The Legend of Zelda: STT
by Azrael Vermillion
Summary: Thousands of years after Twilight Princess, a young boy named Link embarks on a mission to find a girl before the forces of the tyrannical Lord Regent can. Problem 1: The girl's name is...also Link? Problem 2: Since when do simple missions ever go as planned?
1. Prologue: Silence and Song

Author's Note: New year, new writing. I'll be reuploading chapters 0 through 5, and hopefully I'm going to upload new content more than _checks calendar_ once a year. Oof.

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 _~From the forward of_ _Hyrule Historia vol. 1_ _, by Howard Gruooson~_

 **A Summary of the Monomyth**

 _H. G.'s Note: The Legends of Zelda - referred to here as the "Monomyth" - is the collective term for the stories of the various heroes and princesses who have saved our land. The word "monomyth" comes from the Ancient Labrynnan words "monos" (alone) and "mythos" (speech, account). It refers to the common threads that weave through the many Legends, such as the existence of an evil force and its opposition by a Princess and a Hero._

I. Cosmogony (Chapter 1)

 _Legends, naturally, require worlds for them to be set in and people to act in them. We are also introduced to the force that drives much of the conflict of the Monomyth: the Triforce._

In the beginning, all was chaos, a formless void.

Then the three golden goddesses descended on the world.

Din, the goddess of power. With her warm breath, she created the earth, the red land that would someday become the countries of Hyrule, Termina, Labrynna, Holodrum, and many others.

Nayru, the goddess of wisdom. With her cool breath, she created order, the natural laws that would govern the newly formed land and prevent it from falling back to chaos.

Farore, the goddess of courage. With her humid breath, she created life, the diverse inhabitants of all the lands.

Their labors complete, the three goddesses returned to their realm, but they did leave one remnant of their power, the holy Triforce, in the hands of the lesser goddess Hylia. This artifact will grant the wish of the person who finds and places his hand upon it.

Of course, a source of that much power was coveted by many.

II. The Curse of Demise (Chapters 2 - 4)

 _The other half of the Monomyth's conflict stems from the curse placed on the Hero of Sky and the First Princess by the Demon King Demise with his dying breath._

First came the demons and their leader, the Demon King Demise. Hylia and the surface-dwellers fought bravely against the demons, and the battle was long and difficult. After one particularly ferocious battle, Hylia decided to place the Triforce out of Demise's reach. She gathered humans onto a plot of land, sealed the Triforce within, and sent that land into the sky, creating the Isle of the Goddess, Skyloft. To protect Skyloft, Hylia placed a thick barrier of clouds between the land and the sky. On the ground, Hylia and the remaining surface dwellers managed to defeat and seal Demise, but the seal was weak. In an attempt to free the world from the tyranny of Demise, Hylia tried to use the Triforce to destroy him utterly, but the Triforce could not be used by gods. In response, Hylia renounced her divinity, choosing to be reborn as a human.

Thousands of years passed.

As the seal on Demise weakened, the goddess Hylia was reborn as a human woman named Zelda on the island of Skyloft. Her hero, an unnamed man whose bravery had earned him the favor of the goddess, was also reborn on Skyloft as the young knight-in-training Link. When Zelda was pulled to the surface by Demise's second-in-command Ghirahim, Link followed her down, facing down the demon hordes with the help of the legendary Skyward Sword. After tempering the Skyward Sword into the Master Sword, Link gained access to the Triforce hidden in Skyloft, using it to bring Skyloft's Statue of the Goddess down onto Demise's seal, destroying him. Ghirahim, enraged, kidnapped Zelda and brought her back in time, performing a forbidden ritual and resurrecting the Demon King Demise. Link defeated Demise and Ghirahim, sealing the demon king's hatred into the Master Sword. However, with his dying breath, Demise cursed the hero and the goddess: as long as their souls continued to reincarnate, Demise's soul would as well in order to menace their incarnations.

Thousands of years passed.

III. The Era of Sealing (Chapter 5)

 _Despite Demise's curse, the threats that precipitate the creation of various seals in the mortal realm do not appear to have anything to do with the cycle of reincarnation. Despite our tendency to believe that Demise's incarnations are the only threat to the Triforce and other powers, we must remember that evil comes in many forms._

The Triforce became, once again, the focus of a fierce battle in the land of Hyrule. This time, humans proficient in magic attempted to seize the power for themselves. The gods created four Light Spirits, who sealed the aggressors' magic into artifacts known as Fused Shadows. The four Fused Shadows, as well as the rebellious humans, were sealed into the Twilight Realm using the Mirror of Twilight. The humans who were banished became the warped beings known as the Twili.

Thousands of years passed.

The Sage of Light, Rauru, decided that the Triforce needed more protection, and so he sealed the Triforce in the Sacred Realm, another universe parallel to Hyrule. The door to the Sacred Realm was placed in the Temple of Time, and that door required 4 different keys. The Spiritual Stone of Fire was bequeathed to the volcano-dwelling, rocklike Gorons. The Spiritual Stone of Water was guarded by the aquatic Zora. The Spiritual Stone of Forest was left in the possession of the childlike Kokiri, under the protection of the wise Deku Tree. Finally, the Master Sword was placed in the Temple of Time. Despite its well-known placement, it was arguably the most well-defended, as it was only able to be wielded by those without evil in their hearts.

Thousands of years passed.

The land of Hyrule was again shrouded in darkness by evil beings. This time, the goddesses sent a race of tiny beings called Picori, a golden light known as the Light Force, and a magical sword known as the Picori Blade. With the blade, a hero sealed away the evil beings in the Bound Chest, bringing peace to the world once again.

Thousands of years passed.

IV. The Force Era (Chapters 6-7)

 _Records of the so-called "Force Era" are few and far between. These two iterations of the Monomyth, then, are our primary sources of information. First, the Light Force: Unlike the Triforce, which is a gift of divine power bequeathed to mortals, the Light Force is a manifestation of the energy of the mortal races. The Light Force is safeguarded by the mortal Picori and the princesses, but it also manifested in the form of "Force Crystals" that could be collected and used by anyone. This changes the dynamic of Force Era conflicts. Instead of vying for a power that transcends mortal reality and aspires to the divine, these battles are fought over the combined power of the mortal races. We see this change reflected in the sword used by the Hero of Men and the Split Hero: the divine Blade of Evil's Bane is avoided in favor of the Picori-forged, Hero-reforged Four Sword._

The Picori Festival, held every 100 years, culminated in a sword-fighting tournament. One particular festival, a mysterious man named Vaati won the tournament and thus was the guest of honor at the post-tournament ceremony, held in front of the Picori Blade and the Bound Chest. Unknown to the people of Hyrule, Vaati was the reincarnation of Demise, and at the festival, he broke the Picori Blade, unsealed the Bound Chest and released the evils upon the land once more. He then turned Princess Zelda into stone and set off to search Hyrule for the Light Force. As children were the only people able to interact with the Picori, now known as the Minish, a young boy named Link set off on a journey to reforge the Picori Blade. He met a Minish sage named Ezlo whom Vaati had turned into a magical hat. Despite his changed form, he was still able to help Link by giving him the ability to shrink down to the size of the Minish. With that power, he reforged the broken Picori Blade into the even stronger Four Sword, which gave its wielder the power to split into four copies. At the same time, he learned that the Light Force had been passed down through the royal family of Hyrule. Vaati, who had followed Link and also learned the secret of the Light Force, took Princess Zelda's stone statue to the roof of Hyrule Castle, where Link challenged and defeated him, sealing him in the Four Sword and freeing Zelda and Ezlo. Princess Zelda used the Light Force to destroy the evil that had been previously sealed in the Bound Chest, and the door to the Minish Realm closed for good.

Thousands of years passed.

The seal on the Four Sword weakened and Vaati escaped, kidnapped the current Princess Zelda, and took her to the Palace of Winds. A fairy appeared to a young boy named Link and instructed him to draw the Four Sword, which split him into four copies of himself. After proving themselves in many battles, the four Links earned the favor of the Great Fairies and stormed the Palace of Winds, once again sealing Vaati into the Four Sword.

Thousands of years passed.

V. The Hero of Time (Chapter 8)

 _The most famous Hero is, arguably, the Hero with the least interesting adventure. He does not travel the land or obtain a legendary sword, instead simply alerting the Royal Family to the plans of Demise's incarnation. Given that he was in possession of the Ocarina of Time-from which his title is derived-it is possible that time travel was involved in his learning of the plans of the Demon Thief Ganondorf. That is of course impossible to prove. All we know is that he and the Princess of Destiny facilitated the arrest of Ganondorf, and that he then left Hyrule for a time._

 _If time travel was indeed involved , natural questions arise. What calamity struck our land that it was deemed necessary to travel back in time to prevent it? And what happened to the timeline in which this calamity occurred? Was it overwritten by our history, or does a Hyrule lying in ruin still exist, somewhere else in the flow of time? Either answer is disturbing in its own way._

 _As for the hero's subsequent journey, there are many wild and contradictory reports. Some say he entered the Lost Woods and never reappeared. Others posit that he traveled the world, and the otherwise reputable Happy Historian claims that he spent three days, or weeks, or months in the legendary land of Termina. As usual, we cannot know for sure._

( _This section appears smudged, as if something had been written down, removed, and written over. Traces of the original words can still be seen._ _How every printed copy of_ _Hyrule Historia_ _came to display such evidence of editing is still unknown._ _)_

Hyrule, safe from threats from without, seemed poised to fall to a threat from within. A civil war raged throughout the land until the King of Hyrule unified the country under the Harkinian family. However, Ganondorf, the evil king of the desert-dwelling Gerudo, wanted the power of the Triforce ( _split into three parts_ ) for himself. Link and Zelda, then children, _(were tricked into)_ found out about his nefarious plans and managed to get him arrested by the Six Sages. He was held in the Arbiter's Grounds prison for many years. During this time, Link _(was sealed in the Temple of Time)_ left Hyrule on a mysterious journey.

VI. The Twilight War (Chapter 9)

 _We finally reach the latest Monomyth, from which we start counting our years. We know much about the Hero of Twilight, the Twilight Princess, and the Princess of Light, and so this Monomyth iteration is far more complete than others. Notable in this legend is the fact that this Hero's Companion, Midna, plays a much larger role than Companions normally do, on par with the Minish Cap during the Force Era. One could even argue that this Monomyth's conflict is driven as much by the Twilight Princess's quest to regain her throne as it is by the Curse of Demise._

After many years, the Sages finally saw fit to execute Ganondorf, but the goddesses had blessed him with the Triforce of Power, allowing him to survive and kill one Sage. In desperation, the Sages banished the Evil King to the Twilight Realm.

Decades later, ominous red skies, reminiscent of twilight, began to sweep across the land, turning all beings under them into incorporeal spirits and loosing terrifying, deformed monsters. A teenager from the rural village of Ordon named Link, empowered by the blessing of the Triforce of Courage, was transformed by the twilight into a feral wolf rather than a spirit. With the help of the Twilight Princess, Midna, Link learned to control his newfound animal abilities. The pair rescued Princess Zelda from the clutches of the Twili usurper king, Zant, and the three of them defeated Zant. They then learned that Zant had been elevated by the banished Ganondorf, who had himself gained power from the Twilight Realm. Finally, the Hero of Twilight and the Princesses of Light and Twilight defeated Ganondorf, killing him for good. Before leaving to retake her throne, Midna shattered the Mirror of Twilight, sealing off the Twilight Realm from Hyrule forever.

And thousands of years passed.

 _As of this writing (A.C. 1889), a new iteration of the Monomyth has yet to be conclusively identified._

* * *

 **Prologue: Sickness and Health, Silence and Song**

 _(Heaven_or_Hell?)_

–2416 A.C.–

–Hyrule Castle Town–

The herald cleared his throat as he unfurled the sheet of parchment bearing his pronouncement.

"Hear ye, hear ye! Two Thousand, Four Hundred and Sixteen years after the defeat of the Usurper King Zant and the Evil King Ganondorf at the hands of the Hero of Twilight, the Twilight Princess, and the Princess Zelda,"—having to start every proclamation like that got really old really fast but the castle scribe was a stickler for tradition—"the Royal Family of Hyrule welcomes its newest addition, the 2416 Princess Zelda!"

Cheering erupted from the listening crowd. The royal family was well-liked, having implemented many social programs over the strenuous objections of the ruling-class nobles. If their new Zelda were true to form, Hyrule would continue to prosper.

After the cheering died down, the herald continued. "And in celebration of her birth, the Royal Family is holding a Royal Ball in the Great Hall. This ball shall be held one fortnight hence, starting at the hour of twilight, as is customary. This ball is open to the commonfolk by invitation only. As the Royal Family would like to make the process of invitation distribution as fair as possible, invitations will be distributed by raffle. You will be informed tomorrow how to obtain your ticket. Long live the Princess!"

The cheering began again. The last time the Palace had been open to the public had been at the coronation of the King, 16 years ago. The denizens of Castle Town were properly excited to be able to mingle with royalty for the first time in almost two decades.

In the back of the crowd, a man extricated himself from the cheering mob and hurried home, eager to share the news with his wife. Unfortunately, even if he won tickets, she would not be able to attend—she was pregnant and the baby was due very soon. She was, however, a lover of the ancient legends, especially those that made up the Monomyth, and the addition of a new Princess Zelda was sure to make her very happy.

And eight days later, the man and his wife welcomed their own new addition to their family: a baby boy named Link. Although his birth was met with much less fanfare than that of the princess, his arrival made the new parents just as happy.

–2422 A.C.–

At first, everyone thought it was a simple outbreak of the flu. Miserable if you contracted it, yes, but you would be bedridden for maybe a week and then get up again, right as rain. More people than normal were being infected, but some seasons were worse than others. A few shops closed as their proprietors started exhibiting symptoms, but not before selling wagonloads of cucco soup and Ordon goat milk to people who were planning to stay inside and ride out the sickness.

Then, a homeless man in the South District failed to recover. He had lived in filth, exposed to the elements, reasoned the doctors. Those kinds of people died all the time during flu season.

A local cobbler died next. Then a popular fruit seller, a bartender, and a doctor. Word began to spread that this year's flu was more infectious and far more deadly than usual. The damage was done, though; the townspeople's casual response to this disease had sealed their fate. After a week or two, three-quarters of the buildings in town housed at least one body.

Six-year-old Link had no idea about any of that, though. All he knew was that a week ago, the busy city had just...stopped. His weekly lessons at the local Temple were cancelled after Mister Gabel had fallen sick - more time to play, he'd thought, but the next day all the children were told to stay in their homes.

Which led to today's situation. Link rested his forlorn gaze on the locked door to his parents' bedroom. A few days ago, his parents had locked him in his bedroom with some food, telling him to stay inside until they deemed it safe to leave. The adventurous boy had long since figured out how to escape his prison, but what awaited him outside was far from an adventure. Bodies filled the streets, and the lamentations of those who had lost loved ones filled the air. Sickened, he had returned to his home to wait.

But today, his parents' bedroom was eerily quiet. During the previous days, he had heard his parents arguing, punctuated by the odd sneeze or cough. The frequency of their arguments had decreased, but he assumed that they were coming to an agreement; his parents were usually good at settling marital disputes. Today, however, they weren't even talking.

He climbed out his room's window, using the ivy that grew on the wall to reach his parents' room, which was right next to his. As Link prepared to look into the window, he grew apprehensive for some reason that he could not quite put his finger on. Disregarding that feeling, he took a deep breath and looked in the window—

His parents were lying on the bed together, arms wrapped around each other.

Link let out a sigh of relief. _See? Nothing to worry about._ With one final look at his sleeping parents, he turned to climb back into his bedroom window— _Wait._

He looked back through the window once more.

They weren't breathing.

Tears filled the boy's blue eyes, and he experienced a surge of weakness that threatened to drop him from the ivy to the cobblestones below. He managed to keep his wits about him long enough to re-enter his bedroom window and curl up on his bed before bursting into tears.

/_\

Two months later, when the worst of the plague had passed, the herald entered the town square. He couldn't help but notice that there were much fewer people than normal.

"Hear ye, hear—" his voice caught for a second and those in the front were surprised to see tears in the normally stoic herald's eyes. "Hear ye. Two Thousand, Four Hundred, and Twenty-Two years after the defeat of the Usurper King Zant and the Evil King Ganondorf at the hands of the Hero of Twilight, the Twilight Princess, and the Princess Zelda, I must regretfully inform you all that—that…" He took a deep breath and visibly collected himself. "—that the King and the Queen have both passed away due to the plague."

The gathered populace was silent for a moment, digesting the information, before reacting. Some burst into tears, others shaking their heads in disbelief. Several people shouted questions at the herald, but the sheer volume of queries made answering them impossible. After letting the people vent for a few minutes, the herald shouted for quiet and continued his proclamation.

"They are survived by their only daughter, Zelda. As the Princess is currently too young to rule, the High Chancellor Noboru Keijo has been appointed Lord Regent, effective until the Princess reaches the age of maturity. Please treat the Lord Regent with the same love and respect that you have given the King and Queen over the years. He will address the people a week hence from the Palace Balcony at noon. Long live the Lord Regent, and long live the Princess!"

–2422-2432 A.C.–

Zelda was too young to rule, but not too young to notice what was going on around her.

Her parents' rule had been very progressive, opening orphanages around Hyrule, protecting the rights of the Zora and Goron to self-rule, appointing officers based on merit instead of family ties, and implementing other changes that were well-received by the laypeople and strenuously opposed by the elite nobles. Her tutor, Impa, summarized the King and Queen's philosophy thusly: "A kingdom is its people, not just its nobility. If you advantage the highborn at the expense of the lowborn, you sacrifice long-term happiness for short-term stability."

In his first address to the people of Hyrule, the Lord Regent promised to uphold the practices and policies of the King and Queen, which earned him the support of a lot of people. And for the first while, his policies reflected those of the previous rulers.

Here and there, though, there were small signs that he was pursuing a hidden agenda. An act that funded orphanages throughout the nation was accompanied by a slight shift in the nation's tax laws that made it easier to hide funds from the tax collectors. The Lord Regent claimed it was a compromise necessary to gain the nobles' support, and most didn't question it. (As part of her mathematics studies, she calculated the projected revenues and found that they were actually lower than they would have been without that compromise.)

The definition of treason was expanded and the punishments made more severe, explained away as strengthening the kingdom against foreign invaders taking advantage of the Superflu to cause chaos. (Impa collected reports of foreign activity before and after the plague, and Zelda couldn't see any notable changes.)

The Zora and Goron were subjected to restrictions that forbid them from gathering in human-majority areas, again using the plague as justification. At this, there was a public outcry, but under the expanded treason definition, many dissenters were silenced. (To Impa, Zelda complained, "He's not even _trying_ to hide how much he wants to be a dictator anymore. What did the Zora and Gorons do to him?" To which Impa replied, "It's easier to set factions against each other than it is to unite an entire nation. Many rulers choose the easy route. What will you choose?")

With his power now cemented, the Lord Regent's rule began to look less like the progressive rule of the old King and Queen and more like the rule of the tyrants of old.

On the sidelines, the growing Princess Zelda watched in equal parts shocked horror and impotent rage. She was a kind-hearted girl, and seeing the changes made by the Lord Regent in her family's name made her feel powerless. In Hyrule, the age of maturity was 16 years old, so she knew that she and the country had to endure until 2432 A.C. In the meantime, she would try to do as much as she could to mitigate the adverse effects the Lord Regent's policies were having on the layfolk.

One particular decision of the Regent's when she was about 12 served as a simultaneous reminder of her failures and a galvanizing memory. And it all started with a song...

–2428 A.C.–

After the death of his parents, young Link entered an orphanage, one of many that had been opened under the previous King's reign. The loss of his parents had hit him very hard, but the caretakers had found a way to get the boy to open up: music. A lute donated by a previous occupant of the orphanage was found, and one of the caretakers spent his evenings teaching the boy how to play. Many evenings thereafter were filled with the sounds of strumming and the other children singing along.

Of course, children being children, the songs being sung often suffered changes in their subject matter. "The Cucco Song" was a popular choice; at times it became "The Monkey Song", "The Zora Song", "The Stupid Song", and most popularly "The Titty Song". Of course, they had to sing that last one out of earshot of the caretakers, who were more than happy to hand out spankings wholesale to anyone caught singing bawdy songs.

One night, twelve-year-old Link was stringing his lute when he noticed something through the window. A man dressed in black—the uniform of the newly created Sheikah Squad—was making his way to the town square. Link shook his head in disgust. The Sheikah Squad were little more than the Lord Regent's hired goons, soldiers trained in espionage tactics such as eavesdropping, assassination, and other covert activities. They were formed ostensibly to secure the nation while they recovered from the plague, but instead they acted more as suppressors of dissent against the Lord Regent. For someone who enjoyed the old legends as much as Link did, seeing the Sheikah name degraded from elite ninjas to hired thugs saddened him.

 _B_ _etter not sing anything too inappropriate tonight…getting arrested wouldn't be very fun._

Half an hour later, the orphanage rang with an enthusiastic chorus of "The Titty Song".

After the song concluded (which really meant "after the kids stopped giggling") some of the younger children called for Link to come up with a new version of "The Cucco Song". Even though Link's parents had not been highly educated, they had still taught Link his letters at a young age, and the boy seemed to have a way with words. He asked the room to come up with a title, and when someone suggested "The Regent's Song", many of the other children agreed. The Lord Regent was not a popular figure among the populace, and hearing Link lyrically assault him would be very entertaining.

With the Sheikah agent all but forgotten, Link launched into a musical tirade against the Regent, focusing in particular on his hygiene, fashion sense, and ancestors. It was one of his most popular songs yet.

Still riding the high of a performance well done, Link unstrung his lute and headed to the storeroom in the orphanage's basement to put it away. Night had fallen, so Link had to bring a lantern.

The next morning, one of the first boys to rise noticed that Link's bed, which was beside his, looked like it hadn't been slept in. He brought it to the caretaker's' attention, and after a quick search, they found a lute and an extinguished lantern lay in a puddle of oil.

The boy was nowhere to be seen.

/_\

Link was brought before the Lord Regent the next morning. He had blacked out upon entering the storeroom and when he awoke, he was lying in a cell, hands tied behind him. Calling out for someone resulted in the guard who had been on watch walking over and wordlessly clocking him on the head through the bars, which discouraged further attempts at conversation.

The Regent was a tall, imposing middle-aged man. His sharp features were somewhat undermined by the slight bulge around his midsection; he had the appearance of someone who'd only recently begun to let himself go. The throne he sat on was ornate, as befitting of the ruler of Hyrule, but he slouched comfortably in it, head resting on one fist. If someone asked Link how a king would look, the Regent would probably have the exact opposite features, except for the expensive-looking finery.

Scanning the room, Link took in the high ceilings supported by pillars, the statue depicting the Triforce, and—a flash of movement?

Piercing blue eyes met piercing blue eyes for a fraction of a second.

The girl half-hidden behind the statue looked down in shame, tears threatening to drop from her eyes, although Link couldn't see them from where he stood. The Princess herself! If this had been any other situation, he would have been ecstatic to even be in the same room as her, much less look her in the eyes. Unfortunately, this wasn't any other situation.

The Regent spoke, his deep baritone conveying tones of derision. "This is the boy?"

"Yes, my lord. Last night, he was heard singing a song of a rather...insulting nature, in which he hurled various insults at your person." The agent's voice sounded surprisingly young, but as all Shiekah agents covered their faces, the only thing Link could tell was that he was male—even then, he hadn't been sure until the first word had been spoken. "Normally, such vacuous words would be ignored, but he also included a line insinuating that my lord ascended to the throne through trickery."

Link winced. "Trick" was the easiest rhyme for "sick" he could think of at the time, since he had already played out the anatomy jokes...

"This clearly falls under the definition of treasonous speech as defined under the Sedition Act of 2424, and so as per the letter of the law, the offender has been brought before my lord for summary judgment."

"Thank you, agent," the Regent said. "A song, you say? Was he the only one singing?"

"He was, and he was playing a lute as accompaniment. It appears that he came up with the words on the spot, as a covert search of the orphanage revealed no written copies of the lyrics."

"Playing a lute and composing lyrics? What a talented young musician we have here." The Regent turned his attention to Link, who stiffened under the weight of the larger man's gaze. "I would hate to rob such a bright young man of his future prospects, but the law must be obeyed." A short pause, as Link dropped his gaze to the floor, trying to quell his nerves. After what seemed like an eternity, the Regent continued, "What is the punishment for treasonous speech, agent?"

"Depending on the severity of the offense, punishments may range from hobbling to imprisonment to execution." At the word "execution", Link's eyes widened and began to shine with tears. He could die for a silly spur-of-the-moment song? "Of course, the exact punishment is left up to your discretion, my lord."

"Yes..." The man shifted in the ornate throne, resting his head upon the other fist. "Is it not said that it is better to cut off your hand then to let it lead you astray? As I see it, the boy played the song with his hands and sung it with his tongue, so to prevent further treason, the boy should lose both."

Link stood there in shock, almost missing the next sentence. "But given his tender age, allowances must be made for the rashness of youth. Therefore, he shall lose only one faculty. Boy." Link snapped his eyes up to meet the brusque call. "Which shall you keep, your tongue or your hands?"

Behind the statue, the princess's hands flew to her mouth as a tear slid down her cheek.

Link licked his lips, preparing to answer, but it took a couple of seconds before his constricted throat would obey him. "I-I need my hands, my lord."

"Tongue it is, then. It is decreed that the boy Link Yuuki will lose his tongue this day. Let it be done. Turn him over to the doctor, and once the deed is done, expel him from the city."

His body, having just been marshaled into responding to the Regent, froze up again. He...was going to lose his tongue? He'd never speak, never _sing,_ ever again? He dimly registered that he'd also never be able to return to his orphanage, either. He'd lose his voice and his home on the same day, over a song.

The Sheikah saluted the Regent and left the room with an unresponsive Link in tow, leaving behind a man who slouched on a throne with a cruel smirk on his face and a girl whose tears made waterfalls on her cheeks.

The woman watching in the shadows committed the name _Link Yuuki_ to memory.

/_\

After a brief stay in the dungeon, Link was escorted to the laboratory of the Lord Regent's partner and resident scientist, where he was strapped down by heavy leather bands to an operating table. The rumors he had heard painted the doctor as an old man with insane-looking white hair, an unfocused stare, and a general air of creepiness around him, so the boy was surprised when a young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties walked into the room.

The man ran his hands through his black ponytail and muttered " _This_ is the next subject? Pain in the ass. Good thing Aria's on vacation…" in a low voice that he must have thought Link wouldn't hear.

At Link's words, he gave a small start. "Um, who's Aria?"

The man recovered quickly and gave him a flat look for a couple of seconds, which Link matched. Was it his imagination, or were the man's brown eyes softening slightly…?

Ponytail turned away from the table Link was strapped to, shifting bottles and beakers - searching for something, probably. A few seconds passed in silence before the man said "She's my partner."

Another few seconds of silence.

Link, annoyed at the short answer, said "Partner in what? A circus act? Is that why you have the ponytail?"—and immediately regretted it. Mouthing off about adults had gotten him into this mess in the first place, and antagonizing the man who might well be performing his punishment was probably not a good idea.

When the man barked out a short laugh and said "Just what I needed, a smartass," with a smile in his voice, Link let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"We're scientists under the doc. Biology, specifically, but I focus on magical integration while Aria does soul creation, transfer, and the like."

 _Bi-ah-lo-gee? In-te-great-shun?_ As if sensing his confusion, the man continued, "Well, it's nothing you need to know about, kid."

Link scowled. "My name isn't 'kid', you know. It's Link."

Keep mouthing off, great idea.

Ponytail turned to face the boy with a small syringe in his hand. "The legendary hero, huh? Good name. Let me know when you grow into it, _kid_."

Link was about to make a snappy comment but the introduction of the syringe reaffirmed the fact that mouthing off was the last thing he needed to do at the moment. Instead, he decided to take a different tack. "Fine. What's your name then?"

"And why do you want to know?" The man walked along the counter and out of Link's view, but the sound of running water that shortly followed meant that he was probably washing the syringe, or his hands, or both.

"Because calling you 'Biah-whatever Man' or 'Science Guy' instead of your name is kinda rude."

"Biology, kid. Study of living things. And anyway, I don't particularly like my name, so call me whatever you want." The man approached Link's left side, freshly cleaned syringe in hand. Upon noticing Link's instinctive shudder, he sighed. "Just drawing blood, kid. Gotta document all the patients that go through any procedures here. You a lefty or a righty?"

"Lefty." Upon hearing Link's terse response the man crossed over to the other side of the table and stuck the needle into his arm. Link clenched his teeth, watching with morbid fascination as the syringe filled with dark red blood. _His_ blood. Despite the surge of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him, he didn't make a sound. The man nodded approvingly as he removed the syringe's needle and left the room, shooting a quick "I'll be back, kid," over his shoulder.

By Link's estimation, only a couple of minutes had passed by the time the man returned, evidently arguing with someone who Link couldn't see. With a final "Shut _up,_ doc," the man swung the door closed and turned to face the boy irritably. Link, who had been eyeing the man curiously, flinched at his annoyed look and turned away as far as the confines of his restraints would let him.

The man sighed. "I'm not mad at you, kid. Doc's just a bit annoying." The man pulled up a chair and sat down, spinning it around so that he could rest his arms on the back. "So. Blood analysis will take about half an hour, then the doc will come in and apply the curse. We then hand you over to the guards and they escort you out of the city."

Hearing his fate laid out so starkly made it all the more real to Link, and despite still being turned away, he couldn't hide the sniffle that escaped him at the thought of leaving Hyrule Castle Town and losing his voice.

The man sighed again. "Don't cry, kid, it'll make me feel guilty. Look, we're going to help you, okay? Bastards like the Regent shouldn't be hurting kids for being stupid."

"I'm not—" started Link automatically, but he closed his mouth when his brain caught up and he realized that insulting the Lord Regent in public had actually been pretty foolish. He took a different tack to distract himself. "Since you're working for the Regent, I thought you were a bad person, but I guess you're a good guy after all."

"Hmph. Don't call me that, kid."

"If you're not a good guy, then I guess I'll call you Mr. Badguy!"

The man snorted. "The world's not black and white, kid. There're more types of people than just good and bad, and people ain't all good or all bad."

Link smiled playfully. "That's complicated. Anyway, you said to call you whatever I wanted, and now I want to call you 'Mr. Badguy'."

'Mr. Badguy' groaned. "I knew that would come back to bite me. Fine kid, whatever you say."

Satisfied at having scored a verbal point, Link's smile grew wider, then shrank as he remembered that he was joking with the man who was helping _cut out his tongue_ –wait, he'd said "apply the curse", hadn't he?

"You said something about a c-curse?" he asked hesitantly.

Badguy replied with a sigh, running his hands through his hair. "In the old days, people who were to lose their tongues just had them cut out. Besides being a barbaric practice that fu–well, let's not go down that road. Basically what I'm trying to say is that just taking a knife to the tongue is a good way of making people never speak again. Unfortunately, half the time that's because the poor bastard would bleed out, get their wound infected, or die of malnutrition-related diseases because it's really, really hard to eat most kinds of food without a tongue."

Link shuddered.

"Doc comes along, and his whole deal is that he wants to, uh, how to put this...make magic a science, I guess you could say. Figure out the rules, see if you could create new spells, yadda yadda yadda. Along the way he comes up with a curse that will magically render a person unable to talk. Irreversible. Now it's not a complete muting, you can grunt, shout, scream, hell, even hum a little. But any kind of language is completely out of your reach. When the Regent created that treason law, that curse became the doc's go-to for these kinds of sentences. Easy to do, no chance of accidentally killing the offender, and has the same result so the Regent's satisfied."

An excited voice suddenly permeated the air. Link guessed that its owner was also a relatively young man. (How loud was he shouting that they could hear him through a closed door?) "I don't believe this! Come here, Fr–"

As Link registered the words "come here," Badguy's eyes widened, and he shouted back "Hold your horses doc, I'm comin'," loudly enough to drown out the rest of the sentence. With a final look at Link, the man opened the door and left the room.

The door swung shut, but it hadn't closed all the way.

Link strained his ears, hoping that he could catch a bit of the conversation that the shouter–apparently the doctor–and the Badguy were about to have. Even if he didn't learn anything, it would take his mind off thinking about his imminent punishment.

Thankfully, the doctor's excitement hadn't seemed to abate by the time Badguy was within talking distance. Link couldn't make out full sentences, but what he did hear was intriguing.

"–see this? Look – unprecedented – affinity for all – perfect test – shame we have to –"

Badguy's lower rumble was interspersed between the doctor's excited jabbering, but it was soft enough that Link couldn't understand what he was saying at all. He strained some more as the doctor continued.

"You think – little project – won't mind –" Their voices fell away to unintelligible at this point, but Link made out one last word: "plague".

No more answers were forthcoming, as the conversation ended and the Badguy reentered the operation room, followed by a hooded man who Link assumed was the doctor. His face was shrouded in shadow–what kind of lab coats have hoods?–but his voice was kind. "I trust Mr. Badguy–" Link stifled a chuckle as Badguy's expression shifted from 'neutral' to 'I-want-to-light-something-on-fire' "–has appraised you of the situation?"

At Link's wordless nod, he continued. "Good. Then, before we start, I'd like to give you something." He reached into one of his many pockets. "Consider it a gift from the three of us."

"You mean the two of you and, uh...Aria?"

"Yes," the doctor confirmed, pulling out a small piece of leather. Upon unfolding it, Link realized that he was being given a nice pair of leather fingerless gloves, but upon comparing them to his shackled hands, he realized that they would be a bit too big.

Noticing his glance, the doctor said "You'll grow into them, don't worry." He flipped the gloves over, showing Link the back of the right glove. It was adorned with an intricate red rune that almost looked like a flickering flame as it caught the light. "Keep them safe; they will be of great help to you." He tucked the gloves into one of Link's pockets.

As the doctor straightened up, Badguy took over. "We're gonna put you to sleep for this. It won't hurt. You'll wake up once you and your escort reach the orphanage to pick up your stuff, and then you'll be escorted to the gates. We'll also give you a map so you can find your way to another town or city." Badguy approached the head of the table. "Any last words?"

Link thought. Heroes in the stories faced down death with snappy one liners and poignant speeches, but he was neither a hero nor dying anytime soon...although he might as well be.

In the end, he decided to keep it short and sincere.

"Tell Aria 'thank you' for me. Thank you, doctor. And thank you, Mr. Badguy."

This was the first and last time that the man smiled at that nickname.

"See you later, kid."

A large hand entered Link's field of vision, and as Badguy muttered a word, Link fell into darkness.

/_\

With the curse applied, there was nothing left for the two men to do other than wait for the guards to bring Link to the orphanage.

Badguy turned to the doctor. "Are you sure about this? He's a kid."

The doctor didn't reply for a few moments. Finally, he responded with "What do you think about destiny?"

Completely nonplussed, Badguy could only sputter before the doctor continued. "The heroes of legend were supposedly destined to carve their names into history, as were the princesses. But what of those in the shadows? The instructors who taught the heroes swordplay, the tutors who honed the princesses' magic, the craftsmen who made their weapons, the farmers who raised their horses? Are they no less important?"

"Is that what you want to be? The helper from the shadows? Is that what all your weird-ass projects are about, why you hand them out randomly?"

"Sow your seed wide, and some of them will bear fruit."

Badguy shook his head. "If you say so, but why involve a kid? He's going to have it hard enough as it is."

"Ah, but that's why he's perfect. Losing everything means he no longer has anything to lose. Combine with the flame of youth and he might just be unstoppable...when he grows into it."

" _If_ he grows into it. Are you sure this is going to turn out okay?"

"For whom? Him, us, the world? You've come to care for the boy rather quickly–I've never seen you bond with...well, anyone this fast."

Badguy didn't reply.

The doctor smiled. "You should know by now that whether this 'turns out okay' is of no concern to me. I want to see where this world goes - no, _steer_ where this world goes. Whether it becomes paradise or purgatory, heaven or hell, I will be satisfied so long as my hand has pulled at the reins, even if only a little."


	2. 1: Person of Interest

Author's Note: Alright, we're on schedule to not disappear off the planet for a year. Woo. Let's keep this up even when _not_ reuploading old chapters...

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Person of Interest**

 _(Station_of_Awakening)_

-2432 A.C.-

-The Lost Woods-

 _The darkness was absolute, stretching in all directions. He waved his hand in front of his face, but he couldn't see it, even when he tapped his nose. The silence was nearly as absolute, but if he strained his ears he could hear the faint sound of…singing? The melody was soothing, a lullaby borne on the voices of an angelic choir._

"Link!"

 _With no warning, the darkness began to rise, revealing a circle of light underneath his feet as his body was overwhelmed with the sensation of being surrounded by a flock of birds. He covered his eyes, feeling a slight pain as they began to get used to the bright light after such a deep darkness._

"Good morning, Link!"

 _As he lowered his hands, his eyes refocused and he could make out a design on the ground. Three equilateral triangles were connected at the corners so that they enclosed a fourth. All of the outer triangles were ringed with gold edges, but only the triangle in the lower-right glowed brightly. The others were empty._

"I said ' _good_ _morning_ ', Link!"

 _The central triangle appeared to expand slightly into a circular shape, forming a vortex of black smoke that started to rise. It grew larger and larger until its base eclipsed the original design. Link backed away slowly as two small points of red light emanating from the center of the maelstrom enlarged...were those really lights? Because looking more closely they seemed like gigantic, glowing_ eyes _—_

Link was jolted into wakefulness when the blankets covering him were suddenly and forcefully removed. The man who had performed the removal was staring down at him disapprovingly, his blue eyes contrasting the red jacket he wore.

Mind still reeling from his bizarre dream and the sudden change in his surroundings, the only thoughts rushing through his head were variations on _oh Farram it-_

He brought his hand to his forehead and down in the gesture for "sorry" as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, touching his bare feet to the ground.

"I know it's your day off, but you haven't missed a morning run in weeks, so I decided to check on you. And what do I find but my running partner, sleeping the day away."

Sleeping the day away? Alarmed, Link padded over to the small window, sweeping the curtains back and noting the sun's position _._ After nine.

Whoops.

Ernest smirked at the mixed surprise and horror on Link's face but declined to comment further.

Link crossed back to his bedside table, plucking his stylus from where it lay beside his trusty wax tablet and scrawling weird dream at the top of his blank slate.

Link counted himself lucky that he knew how to read and write, because this allowed him to communicate with others as long as writing implements were available. Assuming they were literate, of course, which was a common impediment. Link made sure to keep both a tablet and ink and parchment as some of his few belongings.

Ernest's face softened slightly as he asked, "Weird like a nightmare?" Link shook his head 'no' and Ernest shrugged, turning to the door. As he strode out, he called over his shoulder, "Well if you wanna talk—er, you know what I mean…you know where to find me."

Link smiled and nodded before closing the door to begin getting dressed for the day. As the door shut, he heard Ernest muttering "You never realize how many idioms have to do with speech until you've been training a guy who can't speak…."

/_\

The mess hall was small, but at the moment it wasn't crowded. Even though Link considered the current hour to be late, most people (some would even say "normal" people) preferred to sleep in a little more on their days off. Of course, not everyone had leisure time today; Link could make out the thudding of practice weapons and the yells of his fellow soldiers - not soldiers, "knights" - in the distance.

When the Lord Regent had consolidated his power after the plague, certain members of the Royal Knights and their allies had disliked the direction in which they sensed the Regent had wanted to take the kingdom. The creation of the so-called "Sheikah Squad" in 2427 A.C. had been the last straw for many; Link had not been alone in his feeling that the name of the proud ninja-like warriors who had faithfully served the royal family should not be attached to a glorified secret police squadron. Several senior Royal Guards resigned in protest, taking many of their subordinates with them.

Instead of taking up new occupations, however, most of the former guardsmen seemed to vanish off the face of Hyrule.

While he had been at the orphanage, Link had heard various rumors about their fate. Some claimed that they defected to the neighboring kingdoms of Labrynna or Holodrum. Others were convinced that they stalked the cities and towns of Hyrule at night, fulfilling their duty to protect the citizens through vigilante actions instead of state-sanctioned operations. The more pessimistic among them maintained that they were hunted down and killed by the Sheikah Squad to prevent any kind of skilled resistance movement from forming.

As Link collected his portions of meat, vegetables, and milk, he smiled ruefully, imagining the looks on his friends' faces if they found out that he actually knew what had happened to the Royal Guard.

Breakfast in hand, Link started looking for a place to sit. It took him longer than he expected to spot Ernest's red jacket as he was currently surrounded by a group of admirers. The lieutenant was a minor celebrity among his peers, which was only natural given Ernest's many talents.

Ernest Siegerkind was 9 years old when he lost his parents to the plague, leaving him and his younger sister, Erica, to fend for themselves. They moved in with their uncle Heinrich, a Royal Guardsman, in Hyrule Castle Town. Under his tutelage, the young orphans learned the ways of reading, writing, and weaponry, with Ernest favoring the longsword and Erica becoming a peerless archer at a young age. When the Sheikah Squad was formed, sparking the mass exodus of Royal Guardsmen, Heinrich was one of the leaders of the resignation movement, and he took his niece and nephew with him for fear that the Regent might strike at him through them.

Heinrich was a man of honor and duty, however, and he was loath to abandon the citizens of Hyrule to the rule of this tyrant. With several of his most trusted colleagues, their families, and talented people sympathetic to their cause, the group trekked south to the legendary Lost Woods, an enchanted forest that was said to swallow up foolhardy explorers who entered unprepared. Heinrich and his group came prepared, however, and following the sweet notes of a mysterious song, they stumbled across an old, abandoned, monster-infested temple.

A year's work turned the decrepit temple into a functioning base of operations for Heinrich's resistance movement, which took the name of the "Bannerless."

Despite their youth, Ernest and Erica quickly became renowned in the newly-formed Bannerless. At 14, Ernest was a gifted swordfighter, able to take down men twice his size through exploiting his superior speed, agility, and technique. At 16, he ran across three soldiers during a solo hunting expedition. These particular men had been terrorizing the Faron area for a good while, focusing mainly on stealing from the farming village of Ordon, but the Bannerless had been forced to let them be since their main forces were scattered thin across Hyrule.

Ernest's surprise at running into the banes of Faron province was mistaken for fear by the brigands, and they tried to rob him at sword- and lance- point. Armed with only a short sword, his hunting knife, and a sling, Ernest had killed all three men—fully armed, fully armored soldiers—and recovered the money and goods stolen from Ordon Village. Among the contraband was a beautiful red leather jacket made by an Ordonian leatherworker. When he arrived in Ordon to return the money, the grateful villagers had insisted that he keep the jacket as a thank-you, and upon his report to his uncle at the Bannerless Temple, he'd earned both the rank of Sergeant and the nickname 'The Vermillion Swordsman'.

He continued to rise through the ranks, and presently he was a Lieutenant and the de facto right hand man to General Heinrich, all before his twentieth birthday.

His feats, connection to the general, and his youthful good looks—a handsome face, tall stature, windswept blond hair and piercing blue eyes—earned him the attention of many Bannerless members, much to his displeasure.

Which brought Link back to the present - their morning run was not the only reason Ernest liked to have breakfast extremely early. Even though the current hour would be considered early for a break day, word that the Vermillion Swordsman was currently dining in the mess had traveled quickly, and a group of people had gathered to breakfast with him and hopefully gain his attention or favor. Judging by the large number of blushing women around and smaller but still significant number of blushing men, Link guessed that some might be hoping for even more than that….

To Link's eye, Ernest was making a visible effort to not shut his mouth and reply to every comment with a monosyllabic answer, but it was clear that he was flagging. Ernest looked up as if trying to find a way out of this predicament, and met Link's eyes across the room. While he pretended to focus on cutting a piece of meat, he mouthed 'help' and looked back down quickly.

Link looked away as some of Ernest's admirers tried to find where his eyes had darted to, and upon confirming that he was not a target, he smiled apologetically in Ernest's general direction and decided that today was a nice enough day to eat outside.

/_\

The central courtyard training area was lively at this hour. In one of the back corners, newer recruits hacked at dummies made of wood and straw with various melee weapons while the other corner was decorated with archery targets of differing sizes. The central area could be used for formation practice and even small mock battles, but at the moment it was a dueling arena.

Link took a seat at a bench near the door he'd entered from, shifting left and right until he had a clear view past the spectators ringing the arena. He could see a tall girl with silver hair wielding a practice spear with effortless speed and precision, but her body blocked his view of her opponent. She hopped to the left on one foot, spinning 90 degrees to face her starting position and bringing her right knee up for a snap kick. With that motion, Link could now confirm two things: Her opponent was a brown-haired boy who had just brought his practice axe down in a thundering strike, and the girl was someone he knew, a fellow trainee named Raynie.

The axe-wielder, recognizing the windup of a kick, decided to delay pulling his axe up from the ground for a fraction of a second, instead using where the blade had impacted the earth as a pivot to move clockwise and avoid the kick…a kick which never came as Raynie instead brought her right foot down, stomping on the haft of the practice weapon right as the boy began to attempt to raise it. In a smooth motion, Raynie placed her weight on that foot, jumping into the air to bring her left foot across his face with a solid spin kick that elicited gasps, cheers, and applause from the spectators. The force of the kick, combined with the already-loosened grip of the boy as his pull met unexpected resistance, resulted in the boy losing his grip on the weapon altogether and stumbling back a couple of steps as Raynie landed gracefully facing away from him—and towards Link.

She spotted him instantly and winked. He scoffed.

Raynie turned to face her opponent, who had regained his footing but was still in a rather precarious position, what with his weapon still stuck in the ground next to his opponent. Recognizing that she had all the advantages, she relaxed, twirling her spear like a quarterstaff in a nonverbal taunt. The crowd hooted at her antics.

The boy sighed and said loudly, "I yield."

The onlookers erupted into cheers as some turned to their fellows and exchanged money, while Raynie retrieved the axe and handed it to her opponent before they shook hands. A giant of a man who towered over even Raynie—the combat instructor—entered the circle, favoring his left leg slightly. The combatants turned to bow to him as the crowd fell silent.

"Niall." His voice was surprisingly soft, but the boy snapped to attention. "Remember that what works against one will not necessarily work against all. Quick, agile fighters like Raynie must be outmaneuvered or tricked into a position where they cannot dodge your powerful blows. Otherwise, you will tire yourself out and open yourself up to counterattacks like that one."

"Sir! I will keep that in mind. Thank you sir!"

With an approving nod, the instructor turned to the spear wielder. "Raynie." Unlike the calm intonation he had used with Niall, Raynie's name came out in a long-suffering sigh. Raynie snapped to as well, or at least tried to, but her stance was a bit too relaxed for someone supposedly at attention.

"Yes sir?" Her words were polite, but her tone was playful and Link knew that she was smirking even though he couldn't currently see her face.

The instructor sighed again. "Raynie, you're a good fighter. Everyone knows you're a good fighter. Unfortunately, that includes you. Spear-twirling routines and spin kicks work fine when you're fighting someone whom you know you're going to win against, or in a practice setting. The battlefield, however—"

"Is no place to play around," Raynie finished, clearly having heard this speech many times.

The instructor heaved his third sigh of the conversation. "You hear, but are you listening? I hope that when you do learn this lesson, the price isn't your life—or someone else's." His left hand unconsciously drifted to his leg, where Link knew a scar rested under his clothes.

Raynie stiffened and Link could tell that she was dying to say something, but with a colossal effort, the only words she uttered were a low "Yes, sir."

The instructor nodded and called up the next two combatants as Raynie placed the practice spear back on its rack and stalked over to the bench where Link was halfway through his meal.

She was still clearly seething as she plopped down next to him, folding her arms and muttering under her breath. Link, used to this, started watching the next fight as he waited for her to calm down. Out of the corner of his eye, he idly noted some recruits staring at their bench, shooting Raynie admiring or sympathetic glances. Those who looked at him wore expressions more akin to anger or envy.

 _Why do my supervising officer and my teammate have to be some of the most popular people in the Bannerless?_

"You're up late today, kiddo." Raynie's voice cut through the silence that surrounded them, startling Link slightly until he registered that she was actually rather calm. She had always been good at keeping an even temperament in the face of raging emotion.

Without writing equipment at hand, Link placed his fork and knife down to mime sleeping before continuing his meal. In the dueling circle, two practice swords clashed as their owners strained to overpower the other.

"Kinda unusual for you, but eh. It's your day off and you deserve a little slack, mister 'Southpaw Swordsman'." She grinned and elbowed him in the side as he groaned at the nickname that his fellow recruits had given him. Since he had been selected to train personally under Ernest two years ago, the Bannerless had collectively decided that the Vermillion Swordsman's protégé needed a descriptive moniker as well, and the alliterative reference to the fact that his left hand was his dominant hand had been a hit from day one. Raynie didn't have a nickname yet for some reason.

She scooted closer to him and rested her chin on his shoulder. Link was now hyperaware of the point of contact, her hot breath on his ear, the blood rushing to his face and the increasing rage in the expressions of Raynie's admirers. She whispered "In any case, I owe you one, kiddo. Thanks."

He nodded dumbly, waiting for her to back out of his personal space. Despite the annoying nickname—she's just two years older than him—Raynie was still a very attractive woman and Link was still going through puberty.

Behind them, the door opened and Raynie languidly looked back to see who it was, shifting her head to rest on his shoulder before suddenly moving. Link let his breath out at the removal of contact and stifled a chuckle when he turned to see Ernest's trademark jacket and Raynie's reaction. Her back was ramrod straight as she stammered out "Uh h-h-hi sir, we weren't doing anything, I swear!"

Despite her flirtatious behavior towards her friends, there was one guy whom she never toyed with: Ernest. Link had realized her attraction to their commanding officer fairly quickly, but the normally perceptive Ernest was apparently denser than lead as far as romance was concerned.

Ernest turned a puzzled look at Link, who through experience already knew the question his eyes were asking: why does she always act so startled whenever I walk in on you two?

Link's own eyes tried to reply: she doesn't want you to think she's flirting with me, man. Ernest didn't get it, of course. Denser than lead.

Ernest shook his head, mentally chucking this incident into the "weird Raynie and Link interactions" bin as Raynie composed herself.

"This is convenient, I was looking for you two."

"What do you need us for, sir?" asked Raynie, much more calmly.

Ernest sighed. "Honestly, I don't know myself. The General has called us in for a special meeting. Have you eaten yet, Raynie?" The question caught the girl by surprise, but she quickly nodded, clarifying "After our run, when you went to get Link."

"Alright. Link, finish your meal, and let's go see what my uncle has to say."

At least he didn't seem angry about Link ditching him earlier, although he might just be deferring punishment until later...

/_\

The general's office was small and austere. The window across from the door let the morning light through to illuminate the general's wooden desk. A bookshelf on the right side held various atlases, Master Sun's The Art of War, Howard Grooson's Hyrule Historia, and other treatises on war and tactics, while the wall next to the bookshelf featured a large map of Hyrule. Opposite the bookshelf were Heinrich's armaments: a set of light armor and his famous twin claws, which were said to have been formed from the claws of a bear he had taken down with his bare hands as a teenager.

The man himself sat behind his desk, leafing through a small black book. His dark, narrowed eyes and long, beaked nose gave Link the impression of a hawk scrutinizing its prey. He'd yet to acknowledge the entrance of the three, but Link knew that he had recognized and identified them as the door had swung open. The Hawk of Hyrule, as he had been known during his Royal Guard days, had a reputation for being impossible to sneak up on.

Ernest led the group into the office and stood at attention in front of Heinrich's desk, with Link and Raynie slightly behind him.

"Good morning, General. I've brought my subordinates as you requested." Heinrich set the book aside, smiling slightly.

"How many times have I told you, nephew, you don't need to be so formal all the time."

"When I am receiving a mission from my commanding officer, General, I will be as formal as the situation demands." Link could tell that this was a sentence Ernest had uttered many times, and Heinrich's widening smile confirmed to him that this was a running joke between the men.

The general turned slightly to look at Link and Raynie, who both bowed slightly as Raynie said, "Good morning, General."

Heinrich inclined his head in return, replying "And good morning to you two. I hope you've been treating my Ernest well."

Raynie flushed for some reason. Mind outta the gutter, please.

The general ignored it, though. "I've heard good things about the two of you, and I hope you don't disappoint. Granted, this shouldn't really be the kind of mission to show your skills, but…anything can happen."

A feeling of unease washed over him.

With pleasantries concluded, Heinrich sat forward, folding his hands before his face. The smile was gone from his voice when he began to speak.

"Your mission is simple. Find and retrieve a person of interest to the Bannerless."

Link and Raynie glanced at each other with mirrored expressions of puzzlement.

Ernest was a bit more direct. "With all due respect, sir, this doesn't seem like the kind of mission you would send all three of us on. If we were extracting a spy, one person should suffice, and if it were a rescue mission, even a stealthy one would require more people than just us."

Heinrich nodded, apparently pleased at his nephew's analysis. "Very astute, Ernest. The truth is, there are going to be many irregular things about this mission. Let me brief you on the circumstances." He stood up abruptly, leading the three to the map of Hyrule hanging next to his bookshelf. "As you know, the Postmen are sympathetic to our cause, and when they stop in Ordon Village, they relay messages and information. Among those was a report from the postwoman assigned to the Gerudo Valley. Her report was standard, except for one thing: she spotted someone she didn't recognize traveling across the desert, alone, on foot."

After the Twilight War, the Queen had ordered the construction of a scaffolding and elevator system so that the Gerudo Desert could be reached from Lake Hylia without the use of magic or cannons. In doing so, they had reopened the Arbiter's Grounds Prison—without the ability to use the Mirror of Twilight for executions, of course—and the Gerudo people had happily resettled their ancestral lands, which came to be known as the Gerudo Valley once again. As the Gerudo population grew, they established a transit system to allow Hylians to visit the Valley and ensure people who were lost in the desert had at least a decent chance to be found before the punishing conditions took their toll. Even the Postmen, who traditionally delivered non-express letters on foot, would use the transit system to reach the population centers and then walk to the more remote locations.

Despite having never been to the desert, most Hylians knew that for the layperson, walking alone in the desert was not something to be taken lightly.

Heinrich continued.

"Upon drawing closer, the postwoman noticed that the traveler was wearing light armor, a green tunic, and combat boots with a crossbow strapped to each one. Blue eyes, braided blond hair, and a large compass hanging around her neck."

Link stole a glance at the armor to his left, using its reflective surface to catch a glimpse of his own blue eyes and blond hair. He was currently in casual clothes so no green tunic or armor, but the girl could be a dead ringer for him.

Raynie was apparently thinking along similar lines as she muttered to him, "Sure you don't have a sister wandering around?"

He shook his head.

"The strangest thing about this girl was that she had no supplies for a desert trek—no sleeping bag, no waterskins, no flasks. Just an item pouch, various potions hanging off her belt, crossbow bolts, and…" Heinrich trailed off.

"And?" Ernest prompted.

"…and an injured cucco in her arms."

Silence descended on the room as the three tried to make sense of this information. Raynie voiced her idea first.

"Uh, what's she doing with a cucco in the middle of the _desert_? Did she bring it up from that weird funhouse place in Lake Hylia?"

Heinrich stifled a snort. "No, Raynie, she didn't. We actually checked with one of our agents who is stationed near Lake Hylia, who told us that no one matching that description had been seen in the area, much less visited Falbi's Fly by Fowl. You assume correctly, though, that the cucco was not a native of the Gerudo Valley. Luckily, the traveler actually told the postwoman where it, and she, originated from." He paused, smirking slightly at their expectant looks.

"She had apparently arrived in the Gerudo Desert from…Kakariko Village."

Ernest gripped the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger as Raynie tilted her head slightly and Link studied the map. It confirmed what he already knew, of course: Kakariko Village was located on the exact _opposite_ side of Hyrule from the Gerudo Desert, as it had been for thousands of years. Furthermore, the only way to get to the Gerudo Desert from Kakariko is to pass through Lake Hylia.

Which their agent had said she _hadn't done_.

So did she glide from Snowpeak? Find a way to warp around like the Hero of Twilight? Link forced himself to think simpler. She's probably one of those animal lovers who managed to steal a cucco from a food delivery or something.

As the three of them came to separate conclusions, Heinrich raised his hands to forestall further questions. "This girl has a lot of questions surrounding her, but the meat of the matter is, why am I sending out three of my best warriors to retrieve a girl who's a possible lunatic? There are two reasons." He raised a finger. "One. The day after the encounter with the girl, the postwoman returned to the city of Madinat Dina, where she observed a Shiekah Squad member questioning the townspeople about someone matching her description. The fact that a Sheikah is involved, not the local law enforcement, necessarily means that the Lord Regent himself—or at least someone involved with him—has something to do with the girl."

The three nodded.

He raised another finger. "Two. The girl wore gloves, but at one point during the conversation between her and the postwoman, the cucco cried out in pain and the girl took off her left glove to soothe it. This allowed the postwoman to glimpse the back of her left hand…on which was marked the symbol of the Triforce."

Ernest and Raynie gasped as Link recalled his dream— _a stained glass circle underneath his feet with the glowing Triforce design in the center_ —and an urge that he had to meet this girl surged up within him.

Ernest asked, "But couldn't she be, I don't know, a fan of the ancient legends decking herself out in matching clothing and getting someone to tattoo the Triforce on her? There's no law saying that you can't put a fake Triforce on you…"

"Correct. It could very well be fake. However, given all of the information we have, it would be prudent to assume that she has some connection to the Triforce, no matter how small. If she has some blessing from the goddesses, then the questions surrounding her appearance in the desert with a cucco can be easily explained as the various powers that the heroes of legend were said to possess. And if she turns out to be the hero of legend! If the Regent gets to her first, there's no telling what could happen.

"If, on the other hand, we assume she's a deranged fan of the heroes, we still have the Sheikah searching for her—unless there are multiple crossbow wielding, cucco carrying girls in green wandering the desert at the same time. And even if she's not related to the goddesses or the Triforce, the fact that the Regent is searching for her along with all of her weird circumstances make her, at the very least, a person of interest."

"Which is why you're sending the three of us: not just to bring her back, but to investigate just how important she is and provide her with protection while still being mildly covert," Ernest summarized.

Heinrich crossed back to his desk and sat down. "That is your mission. Do you accept, Ernest, Raynie, Link? Bear in mind that there is a better than even chance of your encountering a Sheikah Squad agent."

Raynie and Link stiffened, Link remembering his kidnapping from the orphanage. As for Raynie, the same rage that had entered her eyes after the training bout earlier returned for a split second.

Heinrich continued unperturbed. "However, having observed your training and knowing of the talent that Ernest possesses, I have the utmost faith that you two have the capability to succeed alongside Ernest despite your young age. Do you share that faith in yourselves? There is no shame in admitting that you do not, and there will be no consequences for refusing this mission."

Ernest and Raynie shared a glance before both turned to look at Link. In Raynie's eyes he saw fear, confidence, and excitement; Ernest's gaze warred between trepidation and curiosity.

When the two of them looked at Link, they both gave a start of surprise at seeing the fire of determination in his piercing cobalt gaze.

This was, he felt, something he _had_ to do, something he'd regret dearly if he didn't. Why exactly he felt that, he could puzzle out later.

Link simply gave Heinrich a thumbs-up, nodding decisively to drive his point home.

"Are you sure, Link?" asked Ernest. He'd never seen the boy this driven, even in fights, and frankly it was a little unsettling. Link nodded emphatically, pounding his closed fist to his chest a couple times for emphasis.

Heinrich smiled upon seeing that gesture. "A good warrior uses his head, but a great warrior trusts both his head and his instincts. You are well down that path, Link." His smile turned slightly mischievous. "Of course, your instincts may lead you into a less beneficial course of action, as well. The greatest warriors know how to balance their gut feelings and their reasoning."

"And how do you attain that experience, General?" asked Ernest warily.

"You complete the mission and see if you survive, of course." Heinrich weathered Ernest's unamused glare, saying "I never said all warriors _succeed_ at attaining greatness."

Raynie made up her mind. "I don't know about being a great warrior, but I do know that I'll be damned if I let my partner do something this dangerous without me there to watch his back. I'm coming too."

Ernest nodded with approval. "Then put us all down for it, General. When do we leave and where do we start?"

"I know it's your day off, but time is key, so you should leave as soon as possible. Start by making your way through Lake Hylia to the desert." He scribbled something on a parchment, signed it, and handed it to Ernest. "This will get you any supplies you feel you need, as well as clearance for three horses from the stables."

Two more pieces of paper were handed to Link and Raynie. "This isn't standard procedure, but your combat prowess, as well as the recommendation of your commanding officer, has in my eyes qualified you for the 'fast track', as it were. By the power vested in me, I declare you, Raynie Halm, and you, Link Yuuki, to henceforth be Corporals in the Bannerless. You are assigned to Lieutenant Ernest Siegerkind. Go forth, and bring honor to the Bannerless. Regina Populusque Hylia!"

Link and Raynie snapped out of their surprise to stand at attention, salute, and (in Raynie's case) echo "Regina Populusque Hylia!" For his part, Link brought his hands together, arranging his fingers to approximate the insignia of the Triforce, and placed them in front of his heart.

With a smile, Heinrich sat back down. "One more thing, then. I didn't want this to affect your decision regarding the mission, but since you've accepted, I will give you one more piece of information.

"The girl in the desert did, at one point, introduce herself to the postwoman.

"Her name…is Link."


	3. 2: Clash at the Big Bridge

Author's Note: Let's keep the streak going!

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Clash at the Big Bridge**

 _(Beat_with_no_melody?)_

-The Lost Woods-

Upon their resignation from the Royal Guard, Heinrich and his fellows had not simply stormed out of Hyrule Castle Town. They had known that the Regent would not let them go without a fight, and so they spent the week before their resignation smuggling weapons and supplies out of the castle armory. The fruits of their labors rested in a large room on the north side of headquarters, along with various additions created during their stay. Ernest presented the paper he had received from Heinrich to the door sentry, who knocked twice on the door before unlocking it and waving Ernest, Raynie, and Link inside.

The man at the desk across from the door straightened up at the intrusion, gave the three a quick salute, and rapidly read the paper that Ernest offered him. "This all seems to be in order. Do you know what you'll need?" the man asked in a soft voice. At their nods, he bent back down over his paperwork, saying, "All right then, come back to me when you have everything."

At that, the group split, with Ernest reaching towards the throwing weapons, Raynie heading to the back where the spears were kept, and Link walking towards the swords. Normally, the younger boy would be practically vibrating with excitement at being around so many weapons, but today his enthusiasm was dulled, a fact not lost on the other two.

If asked, he wouldn't be able to articulate what exactly was bothering him, but the combination of the dream, the girl, and above all, the _name_ …it all left him with a feeling of unease. It shouldn't have been bothering him to such an extent; after all, 'Link' was a fairly common name. The legends were common knowledge, and after the devastation the plague wrought upon Hyrule followed by the cruel tyranny of the Regent, prospective parents could hardly be blamed for giving their child a name that symbolized hope for many.

So why did this girl's name feel so _important_?

Link snapped out of his stupor about a half-second before his nose would have struck the rack where the short swords were stored. He gave his head a quick shake to clear it and focused on the rack in front of him, slowly smiling as the reality of the situation sank in.

As trainees, Link and Raynie weren't allowed personal weapons. They used practice weapons during training and when they ventured outside the headquarters building, they were issued weapons for use during that mission only. Now that they were corporals, they were allowed to keep one weapon for themselves in their quarters. Of course, the Bannerless kept meticulous records on who possessed each weapon; even people like Ernest and General Heinrich, who had personalized weapons, had their status recorded.

Link bypassed the short swords quickly, slowing down once he'd reached the longer swords he preferred. While short swords were lighter and quicker, arming swords were long enough to be useful on horseback while still retaining the ability to be used one-handed with a shield. He tapped each sword as he passed by as he mentally analyzed its suitability.

No, no, did someone try to chop down a tree with that one? No, maybe, crap reforging job, no, no, no…yes.

The arming sword he finally settled on had seen some battle, but still looked to be in good shape. Its previous owner had obviously taken good care of it, and Link privately hoped that it had been returned by said owner instead of recovered off of their corpse. He carefully removed it from the rack, giving it a couple practice swings; it was well-balanced and not too heavy. Satisfied, he strapped the matching scabbard to his back and started to perform a ritualistic flourish before realizing that he'd probably knock over a weapon rack or two. He sheathed the sword, careful to avoid disturbing the other weapons, and headed for the shelves that held the Bannerless's shields.

Shield selection was much easier; circular shields were generally too small for his liking and kite shields were too big. Heater shields were usable both on foot and on horseback without being either too small or too unwieldy. The trees of the Lost Woods provided an ample source of lumber, meaning that all the shields were fairly new, so Link picked the least damaged-looking shield and headed over to the front of the armory.

Raynie was already at the desk, leaning on the haft of her newly acquired spear. She brightened up slightly upon seeing him; perhaps the moody look on his face had dissipated enough to put her at ease.

As Link signed the sheet that signified that he was now the owner of a sword and shield of his very own, Ernest walked up next to him and laid out the weapons that he'd gathered: about a dozen small throwing knives. The deskworker pulled out the appropriate piece of parchment and placed it in front of Ernest as Link passed the quill to his commanding officer.

"Only twelve this time, Lieutenant?" asked the deskworker. "Normally you take enough knives to run your own circus act."

"Circuses are so last year; I'm looking to start up a restaurant now," Ernest replied, grinning, as he flipped a knife in one hand with dazzling speed. "You only need a few knives for a kitchen."

"That's true, but who'd want to eat your cooking?"

Ernest opened his mouth to reply but Raynie beat him to it. "Well that's why he's got me. He handles the knife tricks, and I make sure he doesn't poison the customers."

The deskworker smiled wider. "Ooh, what's this? You've finally found a woman willing to put up with your stubborn self? Never thought I'd see the day."

Ernest's smile changed into a look of puzzlement. "What do you mean? Raynie's my subordinate, that's all."

Link could _hear_ Raynie's eyes rolling out of her head.

The deskworker ended the awkward silence by collecting the signed forms. "Well, good luck with this mission. Word is that it's pretty strange, so be on your toes. You'll need supplies, of course; they're through the back there." He pointed to a door past the shields. "See you."

/_\

After collecting a few weeks' worth of provisions and supplies for making camp, Ernest, Raynie, and Link headed back to their individual quarters to make their final preparations.

Link set aside his quill, inkpot, and parchment, instead choosing to store a piece of chalk and a small tablet with the rest of the camp-making supplies. He placed down his sword and shield in order to change into his armor. His upper body was covered by a green, belted tunic over a light chainmail hauberk, while beige leggings were tucked into brown combat boots. Unlike Ernest, Link relied solely on his swordsmanship and so the various utility pouches and item bags went unfilled. His unstrung hunting bow went into a holster, accompanied by a small quiver of arrows. To complete the ensemble, he crossed over to his nightstand and opened it to retrieve his gloves. They were standard issue, but he had only been able to fit in them starting last year after a growth spurt.

Speaking of fitting into things…

In the back of that drawer lay the gloves given to him by the doctor who'd muted him. He said they'd be a great help, hadn't he? What better time to break them in than his first real mission?

With that decision made, Link set aside his standard gloves and reached into the back of the drawer to pull out his gift. He patted them to dislodge the dust that had accumulated over years of storage, and unfolded them carefully. As it had when he'd first laid eyes on it, the intricate design on the back seemed to flicker like a candle's flame. Now that he looked closer, however, he noted the central Triforce design—that seemed to be showing up _everywhere_ —but this one was slightly different than the one in his dream. The one he'd seen while sleeping had had a differently-colored triangle in the lower right, but his glove's Triforce design featured the top triangle as the odd one out.

There were three parts to the Triforce, he remembered, so the dream and his gloves possibly represented two different parts? He'd probably need to find someone more knowledgeable about the minute details of the legends than he was.

He slid both gloves on, shaking his hands out in response an odd tingling sensation. They fit perfectly. From the same drawer, he drew a green, floppy hat which he jammed over his hair.

Finally, he strapped his sword and sheath to his back and finished his preparations by covering them with his shield. By performing a practiced shrugging motion, he could have his shield in ready position on his right arm in a fraction of a second. While having your sword on your hip made it easier to draw in most circumstances, Link's fondness for combat rolls made a back sheath the more practical choice.

Link moved to the center of the room, drawing his sword and shield with one smooth motion. The gloves—his gloves now—had excellent grips on both the sword's hilt and the shield's straps. He tested them some more with experimental swings, and once he was satisfied, he shrugged his shield into position onto his back while performing an elaborate flourish to sheathe his sword, careful to avoid nicking the floor or cutting his bedsheets.

Now fully equipped, he retrieved his traveling cloak and writing implements before heading to the stables were Ernest was waiting.

/_\

Ernest had already checked out three horses and left for the front gate by the time Link arrived at the stables, but fortunately the gate was only a short walk away. He spotted the horse carrying his bags and stuffed his writing set into a side pocket before feeding the horse an apple he had palmed at the stables.

Ernest snorted. "I already fed him one, Link. Don't give him any more after that or he'll be fat and we'll leave you behind."

The horse snorted back; apparently he disagreed with the Lieutenant on what qualified as a sufficient meal. Ernest's horse nudged his shoulder a second later, prompting him to continue with "See? Now you've got this guy asking for food too."

Link smiled sheepishly and shrugged, showing Ernest his empty palms. The lieutenant shook his head but Link was spared another comment by Raynie's arrival. Her blue tunic rounded out the group's chromatic trinity. As she caught her breath, Link used the opportunity to duck out from under Ernest's mock-stern gaze.

"Ernest, you should have told me you were going to get the horses," she said, pouting. She waved off his apology as she stowed her belongings and mounted her horse, prompting the other two to do the same. "It doesn't matter. Are you guys ready?" Ernest answered the question by spurring his horse into point position and leading the group into the Lost Woods.

/_\

Their first few days of travel were rather uneventful. Ernest guided the party through the Lost Woods, emerging in the Mid Faron Woods near Faron Spring. The woods opened up into the southern portion of Hyrule Field, also named Faron. They followed the road through the field, taking a left at the small central lake and heading towards the winding path that would take them to the Great Bridge of Hylia and up to the Gerudo Desert. Monsters stayed away from the relatively well-traveled road—the Lord Regent recognized the value of making sure trade routes were safe from natural hazards. Human hazards were more difficult to police, but the Regent made sure Hylian soldiers were available to guard private deliveries and travelers—for a fee, of course. Lone travelers like Link's group, having no escort, were thus in the strange position of being both easy and unattractive targets: not having an escort would lead many to assume that they were easy marks, but they probably wouldn't have anything of value to take if they didn't want to spend the Rupees to defend themselves.

Of course, looking closer would reveal the outlines of weapons under their nondescript cloaks. Most bandits, upon noticing that, would move on; no point risking a fight with people who were probably trained mercenaries or even Sheikah on a covert mission.

Following this logic, the man Link spotted on the north side of the bridge would probably not pose a threat, but he tapped Raynie on the shoulder anyway and pointed to the arch, leading her eyes to the lookout. She relayed the information to Ernest, who shrugged with a dismissive "Shouldn't be a problem."

When they finally got a full view of the bridge, Link was taken aback slightly at the fact that there were no other travelers in either direction. There were two people standing at the center of the bridge, but they didn't appear to be moving. Raynie easily guessed what his next shoulder tap meant and responded, "It is kinda weird, but this isn't the most popular road, so it's not that unusual, right?"

When they reached the twenty-meter mark, three armed men stepped onto the bridge behind them while the two in the center moved towards them. Ernest slowed slightly, allowing the group to bunch together and communicate quietly.

"How many do you see?" he whispered. Link jerked his head backwards, held three fingers up, and tapped them against the hilt of his sword.

Meanwhile, Raynie replied "Two in front, big sword dude and a girl with two knives. Odds are she's got more hidden like our circus leader here."

Ernest sighed. "I knew I should have brought more knives. The lookout's probably theirs too. Link, be on the watch for arrows. Weapons on the ones behind us, all swords. Okay. I'll take the two in front, you two take the three in back. Link is on defensive duty, covering Raynie's weak side and watching for arrows. Raynie, use your range. When I'm done I'll join you. Questions?" The other two shook their heads.

"Alright, you know my standing orders."

The three of them looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Don't die." Link, of course, only mouthed it.

With a final nod, Ernest spurred his steed into a gallop, shedding his cloak and drawing his sword in the same movement. His red jacket caught the light and recognition flashed across the faces of the bandits as he charged. The horse was on a collision course with the knife-wielder, while on the right side, the big man readied his claymore to block Ernest's mounted attack. Even with the added momentum from being mounted, the man was probably large and strong enough to stop Ernest in his tracks if they clashed head-on.

So he didn't attack head-on. Instead, Ernest jumped to the left—just as the knife-wielder dodged the charge, ending up on the same side. For a split-second, the thundering horse blocked Claymore on one side from Ernest and Knives on the other.

Ernest's sword came down in a vicious arc as Knives came up from her roll, saw the danger, and brought her weapons up in a desperate x-shaped block, but Ernest's gravity-augmented strength won.

The knives broke and the sword sliced the woman from shoulder to hip. The wound spilled quite a bit of blood as she fell back heavily against the stone guardrail. A couple of knives bounced free from their hidden holsters and scattered over the ground as the horse continued down the bridge, revealing Claymore, who charged Ernest with a terrifying roar.

On the other side of the fight, Raynie and Link had also shed their cloaks and drawn their weapons. As they wheeled their horses around to face their attackers, the three men raised their swords into fighting position.

"No shields," Raynie noted quietly. "Let's joust 'em."

Link nodded, bringing his horse around to Raynie's left. With the two horses as close as they dared, Link's shield could cover Raynie's weak left side while his sword could attack simultaneously. The light armor covering their horses should keep the bandits from cutting their steeds out from under them, unless hit by a precisely aimed blow, which would be difficult at high speeds.

Raynie couched her spear under her arm, pointing it at the three men as Link extended his sword outwards. The two riders spurred their horses into a gallop, Link bringing his sword back while Raynie strengthened her grip. The bandits paled at their approach, quickly reaching the conclusion that staying put was the wrong choice in this situation. The one in front of Raynie dived to his left, rolling in a tight ball under the spear and lashing out once he came up. The horse had already thundered past, leaving his blade slashing at the air.

The remaining two dived towards Link's side. The outermost one came up out of range of Link's strike. The other was not so lucky; upon straightening up he found Link's sword in mid-swing, level with his chest-

The blow's momentum sent the man spinning through the air like a rag doll as Link wrenched his sword free. The unlucky bandit's flight ended at the stone guardrail, where he impacted with a sickening crunch and collapsed to the ground.

Link's speed had been checked slightly by the impact, so when he reached Raynie's position she had already turned around for another pass. Link was in the process of turning his own steed when a thundering roar shook the air. He whipped his head around to see a gigantic blade come down upon Ernest, who smoothly slid to the side before stabbing his blade into the man's large torso—

A flicker of movement in the upper reaches of his vision occupied his attention.

He'd forgotten about the _archer._ And he couldn't fire back until they'd cleared the grounded enemies...

Link visually estimated its destination—Raynie. He turned to her but her attention was occupied with the two remaining bandits, who had advanced on their position during the lull. Raynie was keeping them at bay with wide sweeps of her lance, but that meant that if he tried to signal anything to her, the distraction might cost her dearly.

Not for the first time, he cursed his inability to speak.

Luckily, the bandits were still wary of attacking Raynie since she outranged them. If he was quick, he could block the arrow and break the stalemate.

He swung his legs up, crouching on the back of this horse. After stabilizing for a moment, he jumped in front of Raynie, shield outstretched and body horizontal.

A slight thud signified the arrow catching in his shield— _Yes!—_ and then a bigger thud knocked the wind out of him as he slammed into the ground. As the pain rocked his body, he forced himself into a clumsy roll that tripped up one of the bandits. The other reflexively reached for his fallen comrade.

Raynie's spear reached his throat.

A gurgle escaped the man's mangled vocal cords as he fell back. The remaining bandit and Link both clambered to their feet as Raynie pulled her weapon back with a flourish that sent drops of blood flying into the air. Noticing the precarious situation he was in, the man began to back up slowly.

Link made to pursue but the top reaches of his vision flickered again. Another arrow? Raynie looked to be the target again, but something was off. The arrow was dropping a little bit too fast to just be a normal shot.

Despite his aching body telling him to just move himself and Raynie a few steps out of the way, Link instead turned to face the guardrail, counting down from five.

On 'zero', Link ran to the guardrail, taking two steps on it as if attempting to run up it, and then threw himself backward, spinning in a half-circle and drawing his legs up. The end result was that he and his shield were now blocking Raynie from the arrow's trajectory, while his curled-up posture meant that he wouldn't accidentally hit Raynie's horse.

Everything seemed to slow. The three downed bandits remained motionless, with the fourth watching Link's jump and Claymore still attempting to cleave Ernest in half. Ernest, for his part, was dodging the giant's strikes with relative ease.

The arrow fell, now close enough that Link could make out its details. Instead of the normal sharpened arrowhead, this one seemed to be tipped by a small black ball—a ball that was spitting sparks.

A bomb.

The arrow was now level with Link, who was at the apex of his jump. Instead of thudding into the shield like the previous one, this arrow exploded about six inches in front of his shield.

Link cursed furiously -

The blast was extremely powerful for such a small bomb. Link, Raynie, the two horses, and the bandit were thrown back. Quick-thinking Raynie managed to free herself from the stirrups before the horse could crush her between its weight and the rail, but her back slammed into the guardrail and she slumped to the ground in a sitting position, dazed. The bandit wasn't so lucky; the part of his body that struck the guardrail was his head. His body rested in a sitting position as well, but the angle that his head lolled at suggested that his neck had been broken on impact.

Link had also been pushed back, and he cried out in pain as his tailbone struck the top of the guardrail, accompanied by a sharp crack. Curled up as he was, the effect of the impact on his body was to flip him up and over the rail.

In slow motion, he watched the top of the guardrail pass his eye level, then rise and rise…

And he looked down at the biggest lake in Hyrule. It didn't seem to be living up to its name at the moment, but it was growing larger every second.

The wind rushing past his ears seemed to die down, replaced by a pounding that he recognized as his heartbeat. The rhythm of his lifeblood, fast but steady, reminded him of a song, but he couldn't place a tune to it.

The steady beat underscored the scenes that flashed before his eyes. His mind flicked from thought to thought. Would Raynie be okay? Was Ernest going to win? The Regent laughed at him from atop his throne while the princess cried in the background. Badguy and the doctor—what did they know about the plague that killed his parents? Their bodies rested in an eternal embrace before fading from sight, to be replaced by the girl who shared his name and his clothes. He'd never meet her now.

And the last face he saw was an unfamiliar one, that of a woman a few years older than him. Short red hair, light blue eyes, and a warm smile.

She spoke.

" _You're not who I expected, although you are pretty cute."_

Link's final thought before his world darkened was that even if he'd gone insane, at least he wouldn't experience it for long.


	4. 3: Hey, Listen!

Author's Note: You know I had to do it to 'em (I'm so, so sorry).

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Hey, Listen!**

( _My_Fiery_Valentine_ )

-Lake Hylia-

 _Absolute darkness, as far as the eye could see. Absolute silence, save for an angelic lullaby. A flock of bird-shaped shadows rises, taking some of the darkness with it. A stained-glass floor emblazoned with the symbol of the Triforce. A swirling vortex of darkness with glowing red eyes in the center._

He'd only had this dream once, a few days ago, but it remained vivid enough in Link's memory that he could recognize this one as being identical. Well, _almost_ identical. There was a voice that he faintly recognized, talking to itself at high speed. Link concentrated on what it—she—was saying.

"… _initializing full connection. Neural link completed. Accessing short-term memories. Wow, this guy's got guts. In summary: we are falling from the Great Bridge of Hylia towards the lake with no ability to slow the fall or cushion the landing. Accessing databanks…solution found. Odds of survival: 0.42% given reasonable assumptions…why did Mother give me the probability module again? Sis hated that."_

Link raised his voice in a shout, trying to grab the voice's attention, but she either couldn't hear him or was ignoring him. Shame, really; the way she casually used words that he had never heard brought him back to the conversation he'd had with Badguy as a kid on the operating table, and he hoped that in a dream he could get some explanations this time.

Wait, if it was a dream, he could talk! He tried to make his wordless cry form words, but now he could barely hear himself.

His shout had, however, caught the attention of the creature in the swirling vortex, who seemed to focus directly on him. Its red eyes paralyzed the boy, and the words he had been attempting to form died unsaid. It roared, shaking the air itself with a loud, primal…high-pitched whistle? No, it was now a beast's roar, now a man's laugh, then two women cackling in stereo, a different man's laugh, more roaring, a _third_ man's laugh…

And then the woman's voice cut through the vortex's laughter with a sharp _"Well here goes! LANAYRU!"_

And several things happened very quickly.

The Triforce on the ground flared up in a blinding golden light as the world slowed to a crawl.

The woman's voice seemed unaffected by the slowdown as she intermittently jabbered along. This time, however, she seemed to speak an entirely different language.

The vortex's ever-changing laughter turned to screams of pain and rage.

His hands were _on fire_. Link looked down to see his left hand suffused with golden light, his right engulfed in flickering flames. The unholy chorus grew louder and louder as the flames jumped higher, interweaving with the golden light. Finally, the woman's voice broke through the chaos once more:

" _The living waters! / Domain of wisdom's goddess! / Surround and protect!"_

And the world faded.

/_\

Link opened his eyes once again. Darkness greeted his vision, once again. This time, however, focusing his eyes allowed him to make out more than just blackness. Not dreaming anymore, then. Hopefully.

Pinpricks of light dotted the sky, which seemed to be cut in half by a giant black line - the bridge? But why were there stars? How long had it been? He had to move, find the others, and figure out what the hell was going on.

He started to sit up, but the sudden movement was immediately vetoed by the intense pain that spread through him. He gingerly laid himself back down on the grass, mind racing.

Pain _everywhere_. It was concentrated in the twin areas of his tailbone and his shield arm, probably from slamming into the bridge and the initial explosion. There was less acute but still significant pain everywhere else on his person, which he chalked up to slamming into the water.

At that, he frowned. Falling from that height should have killed him outright, not just left him with some aches and pains.

He tested his limbs, hissing at the pain but not noticing any serious damage. With a grunt, he forced himself to sit up, using a colossal effort to ignore the pain shooting from his lower back. The motion caused his left hand to brush against something near him. Scrabbling around for a second revealed the object as his sword, which he brought close to his eyes to inspect. It had accrued some dings and scratches, but it was still serviceable.

With a sigh of relief, he performed a more thorough check of his body and gear. His clothes and item pouches had minimal damage, and his body seemed to be the same. He reached into the holster that held his bow—and drew it out in two pieces.

There goes easy hunting.

The arrows he'd brought could serve as makeshift hunting knives, but now that he thought about supplies, he remembered that they were all on the horses. The horses that were probably halfway to Zora's Domain by now.

And there went his supplies.

Getting up wasn't challenging at all; the issue was staying on his feet as a wave of pain and nausea washed over him. He stumbled a few steps before tripping over a small object in the grass, which promptly brought him crashing down to earth again.

He gritted his teeth before pulling himself to his knees, turning to look at the offending object—his shield.

Which had been _strapped to his arm_ , so how did it get _here_?

Said straps did not have any visible damage, and tugging on them revealed that they were probably as strong as ever. He flipped the shield over to see that the explosion had burned streaks into the wood. If he squinted, he could almost mistake it for a drawing of the sun.

Luckily it hadn't been burned to a crisp. There were many tales of Bannerless who'd misstepped while fighting one of the many flaming monsters that existed in Hyrule while wielding wooden shields. All of those tales ended in said shields becoming burned-out husks of their former selves.

He picked up his shield as he stood up once more, this time managing to keep his footing. Having all of his gear on him made him feel complete, somehow, a feeling he anchored himself to as pain and nausea threatened to send him back to the ground. When the nausea subsided, he started walking around the immediate area, taking stock of both the environment and his racing thoughts.

Lake Hylia at night made a beautiful scene. He was on one of the small outcroppings of earth that dotted the western half of the lake. From this vantage point, he could observe the reflection of the moon and the stars on the rippling surface of the lake as various fish swam just below. He wasn't too far from Fyrecannon, the barge that held the cannon said to have launched the Hero of Twilight to the Gerudo Desert, although the scaffolding meant that it hadn't been used for millennia. Link idly wondered if it still worked before turning his gaze up to the bridge. He'd fallen from that hours ago, although seeing how high up it was made him wonder if the afternoon's battle had really happened.

The main issue was that falling from the Great Bridge should have been a death sentence. From such a great height, the water's surface would be more akin to stone than liquid, and the ensuing blunt force trauma would splatter him over the lake, or something. He hadn't really studied what happened to people who fell from high places into water.

All that information solidified into one big question in Link's head: how did he survive?

" _That would be thanks to yours truly!"_

Link nearly jumped out of his skin as the cheerful voice reverberated through his head. Sword in hand, he looked around wildly for the speaker, but there was _no one there_. The laughter that followed did nothing to calm his nerves. He settled into a fighting stance, hyperaware of both the pain that was coursing through his body at his every movement and the fact that fighting something invisible at night would put him at an extreme disadvantage.

He was trying extremely hard not to remember the fact that many of the invisible things he'd heard about _also_ couldn't be hurt by physical weapons…

The voice spoke again, causing his head to whip around for a sign, a rustle in the grass, anything that could give away the speaker's location.

" _That's not going to help."_

Link gritted his teeth, wishing for the umpteenth time that he could speak. The odds were not in his favor, but being able to at least attempt to negotiate or bluff the phantom voice would have made him feel a _lot_ better.

" _Oh jeez, I took this a bit too far, didn't I? I'm so sorry it's just that I've been sleeping for soooo loooooong and I was kinda bored and I wanted to have a little fun before we get to all the introductions and explanations and all that stuff and Mother and Freddy said I needed to learn when it was appropriate to say certain things—well, Freddy didn't say it exactly like that, but close enough—and I'm rambling again, aren't I?"_

Link's eyes had glazed over during the voice's babbling, but the phantom's words gave him a feeling that whoever this invisible person was, they meant him no harm, at least at the moment.

It could be a trick to make him lower his guard, of course...He came to a decision, and sheathed his weapon, sitting down on the ground in the direction that he thought the voice might be coming from.

" _Okay, let's start over. Ahem. First things first: I'm talking directly into your head. You're the only one that can hear me right now, and I can hear you if you direct your thoughts at me. Which ought to be useful considering I heard something earlier about you not being able to speak…?"_

His immediate thought was, of course, how to direct thoughts, but now that he was calm and focusing on his mind, he could feel a slight pressure in his head, like a headache that had yet to fully manifest. He mentally zeroed in on that, sending the question _"Like this?"_ to that pressure, which responded with an immediate " _Yes, perfect! You're a quick learner."_

With the initial test completed, the second part of her sentence jumped to the forefront of his mind.

She said that she'd heard something about his not being able to speak….so could she read his mind?

" _Before you ask, no, I can't read your mind."_

That was some _suspicious_ timing.

She continued, seemingly oblivious to his wariness. _"So the thing is that no matter what the stories and legends say, mind-reading is pretty much impossible. The mind isn't just a book you can just open up and look through, you know? At any moment, while your consciousness is thinking something like 'Can she read my mind?' your brain is busy trying to answer that question, pulling impulses from neurons in a complicated web. Meanwhile, other parts of your brain are making sure you stay balanced or that you keep breathing or that your heart keeps beating. Trying to sort out your actual thoughts from, say, the memories that you're pulling up to remember everything you've heard about mind-reading or whatever is way too hard to even attempt. Don't even get me started on long-term memories…"_

Link was able to understand most of the lecture, although he did file away the question "what are neurons?" for later. Instead, he asked _"Then how did you figure out I couldn't speak?"_

" _Well, you kinda broadcasted an intense desire to be able to talk at the time, so you ended up accidentally sending that thought to me."_

So his thoughts would be mostly his own. A comforting prospect, but he still made a mental note to try to control his thoughts and emotions better, making sure to leave it as far away from the voice's mental pressure as he could. Of course, she could be lying, but he appeared to be stuck with her for the time being so trusting her would be the better option

" _Okay, next question. Who exactly are you? How did you get in my head?"_

" _Well strictly speaking, I'm not in your head. I'm in your glove."_ Link looked at the red design on the back of his right hand. " _Yep! That's me—well technically that's not me, that's where I am right now—no, don't get distracted, this is important."_ The voice paused for a moment. _"Ahem. I am the Voice And Language Enabled Navigation Transmitter, Incendiary Navi Edition."_

Link raised his eyebrows. _"…yeah, whoever came up with this naming scheme really wanted to spell 'Valentine'. You can call me Val for short, though!_

"' _Voice and Language Enabled' means that I am able to communicate with whoever's wearing me as well as translate for them. I can also broadcast my voice to the outside world, which ought to be useful for you."_ Link's eyes snapped wide and a smile crept across his face. For the first time in years, he could finally communicate with more than grunts and facial expressions…as long as he didn't mind sounding like a chipper, easily-distracted woman. His face fell.

Val continued, seemingly oblivious to his internal turmoil. _"Navigation. I have access to a map of Hyrule as well as maps of several locations in my memory, including Hyrule Castle and Castle Town, the various cities and towns around Hyrule, and several important locations such as the Arbiter's Grounds and the Lakebed Temple. I can also update the maps as you obtain information, as well as display them for you."_ Before Link's eyes, a ghostly image of a map of Lake Hylia appeared, with a yellow arrow near the middle. He reached out to touch it, but his hand moved through it like it didn't exist. She explained, _"It's not real; only you can see this. The arrow represents your location. I can also pinpoint places you want to go if I know of them."_ Link turned in a slow circle. The map stayed in his vision while the arrow followed his spin.

As he completed his turn, he dropped to his knees to study the map more closely. A variety of sensations flew through him, pain being the foremost. He ignored that, however, in lieu of focusing on a different feeling. Something had tapped the top of his hat when he knelt. He looked over to his left, widening his eyes when he noticed a thin shape spinning into the darkness.

He rolled forward, ignoring his screaming muscles. The maneuver finished with him facing to the right, where the projectile had come from, with sword and shield at the ready. Adrenaline surged through his body for the second time that day, dulling the pain, and his newly sharpened vision allowed him to see an arrow hiss through the space he had been occupying.

His assailant was holding a bow with a third arrow half-nocked. Link couldn't make out his features in the darkness, but the laughter that reached his ears confirmed that the person was definitely male.

"You got the luck of the King of Evil hisself, boy. Good thing I never leave a kill unlooted."

" _Crap! I'm sorry! I got distracted,"_ Val fretted. _"Calculating options…"_

The man continued, the malice in his voice audible. "You and your little friends are too skilled by half. Killed the boss and most of the crew. Me n' Kiyoko barely got out. Don't worry about your friends, though. The Sheikah have a warm welcome prepared for them, heheh."

Link's veins filled with ice.

"The Vermillion Swordsman and company, and they'll probably take 'em alive because of my little bombs. This'll be a good take, especially when I bring you to 'em."

Alive. They had to be alive. The Regent would want to execute such a famous thorn in his side, and they'll want to interrogate him and Raynie too. So he just had to find them.

Link very carefully kept himself from thinking about the other possibility.

" _Val, do you have anything?"_

" _In your current state, your odds of survival in a straight fight are extremely low, especially given the high likelihood of your opponent having access to explosives."_

"So what's it gonna be, boy? You gonna come quietly? I get more that way," the man leered, arrow now at the ready.

" _The highest chance of survival involves getting to this location."_ The ghostly map popped up in the corner of his vision with a red dot marking a location along the south wall of the lake.

" _Why? What's there?"_

"You heard me, kid? What's it gonna be?" The man's jovial tone deepened into a growl; he was losing patience fast. Link gritted his teeth. Try to fight in his injured state or follow the directions of the flighty new voice in his head? Neither option was particularly appealing.

The thought of surrender didn't even enter his mind.

" _No time to explain. Just trust me."_

"Three seconds. Throw your weapons down or I'm shootin ya."

Link ground his teeth. _"Which way should I go?"_

"Three."

" _To your right and just keep going,"_ she replied.

"Two!"

Link subtly tensed his muscles.

"One!"

He threw himself into a roll, sheathing his sword and shield in the process. His assailant's indignant shout was quickly followed by the hiss of an arrow flying past him.

" _You're about to hit the water. I'll keep you on track. Just keep swimming."_ Val's voice was tense.

As his boots kicked up the spray, he felt a slight thud against his back and noticed an arrow spin into the water.

Thank you, back shield.

He dived a few feet, holding his nose with one hand and his hat with the other.

Swimming was difficult, as the ice-cold water exacerbated the ache in his limbs. His strength started flagging after the first few strokes, but then a muted hiss echoed from his left side. An arrow had slid into the water; he could barely make it out in the darkness.

Seeing the arrow suddenly became a lot easier when it exploded.

The water absorbed most of the blast, but the watery shockwave knocked the air out of his lungs, sending him flailing towards the surface.

So his assailant had water bombs, too. Fantastic.

He broke the surface, gasping for air, but he kept the presence of mind to avoid kicking up too much spray. Looking back, he could barely make out the shape of the bandit archer, who was lining up yet another shot. Link eyeballed the distance, concluding that he was only about halfway to maximum range.

He turned to continue swimming, correcting his course whenever Val determined he'd strayed too far off track. He couldn't submerge for as long as the first time, what with the pain and the aftermath of the shockwave, but his assailant's shots were getting fewer and farther between as he swam, before eventually stopping altogether.

Link eventually reached the southern wall of the lake and confronted his next obstacle: a sheer cliff face.

" _I hope you're not expecting me to climb this barehanded, Val."_

" _Look to your left."_

A ridge in the wall hid a wooden ladder that had definitely seen better days, but to the tired, bedraggled Link, it was a gift from the goddesses. He caught his breath, gritted his teeth as a wave of pain rushed over him, and began to climb.

Every time he grasped the next rung, his arms throbbed. He used those to count.

Ten.

" _After you reach the top, you'll be halfway to your destination."_

" _Which is?"_

" _The Lanayru Spring. I'll finish my explanation there."_ Link remembered Val shouting the spirit's name in his dream. Did she actually talk to him? As far as he knew, nobody had since the Hero of Twilight!

Twenty.

He estimated that he was about a fourth of the way up, but he couldn't get an accurate measurement in the darkness.

Thirty.

" _At the top, you'll need to cross some rope bridges, then it'll be a straight run along the wall to the spring. If I'm right—oh boy."_

" _What?"_ He tensed, not eager for another addition to his problems.

" _You might want to move faster."_

The reflexive _"Why?"_ was cut off by a small explosion below him. While he retained his grip on the ladder, the blast succeeded in scaring the life out of him, sending adrenaline rushing through his body once again.

It also succeeded in blowing some of the rungs below him to bits.

Well, he wasn't planning to fall anyway.

He started moving faster.

Forty _._ Boom. The blast was closer this time. How was he firing from that far away, anyway?

Fifty. Boom. He glanced back down to see that the man was standing in a rowboat. Feeling slightly silly for not thinking of that, or even realizing that the man hadn't been wet when the altercation started, he continued upward.

Sixty. Boom. Boom. Was it his imagination, or were the blasts falling off slightly? The maximum range of a bomb arrow couldn't be that far, especially with the added handicaps of the extra weight and the height disadvantage.

Seventy. No shot this time, but he didn't want to stick around, anyway. The pain was coming back a little, and he realized that he had miscounted slightly; the ladder was about thirty rungs taller than he'd thought.

Ernest had a saying about these kinds of situations: if missions were easy, they wouldn't be fun. He accidentally let the last part slip to Val, who replied with a cheerful _"That's the spirit. You're almost there!"_

Eighty. Boom. This one hit close enough that he could feel the heat. Link revised his estimate of the maximum range of bomb arrows. Oh yeah, this was _tons_ of fun.

Ninety. No explosion. He was so close, and his weary body managed to dredge up a final burst of energy.

One hundred. He hauled himself over the edge, using a final colossal effort to get himself up on the ledge as fast as humanly possible.

He barely made it; his graceless roll onto the flat ground allowed him to see the final bomb arrow hiss through the space he'd been occupying and fly up into the cliff wall.

Boom.

He lay there, coming down from his adrenaline high—which one was this, his second? Third? The night's events were blending into each other.

" _Link, there are other ways up. You need to move."_

He got to his feet and started walking, using the wall to steady himself. As he trudged towards the cave that held the spring, a new ache emerged amidst the general pain in his body; his stomach was growling. It was not an unexpected pain, as his last meal had been breakfast more than 12 hours before, but it was just as unwelcome.

After an eternity his yellow arrow touched the red dot. Before him loomed a gigantic cave entrance, beyond which he couldn't make out anything. Farther in, he knew, was the grotto that supposedly housed the patron spirit and namesake of this province: Lanayru. The cave had been a place for locals to offer prayers to the spirits, but increased bandit presence in recent years had led to a decrease in pilgrimages to the less accessible springs like Lanayru's. Even in more peaceful times, though, Lanayru and the other spirits had seldom been seen. The last time they had appeared was during the time of the Hero of Twilight, two and a half millennia ago.

In short, Link had no idea why Val had marked this as his highest chance of survival.

Val, however, seemed to really want him to come here, and she'd been helpful enough thus far. If she really wanted to get him captured or killed, there were easier ways than luring him into this cave. Besides, he'd already decided to trust her.

With slow, shuffling steps, he entered the spirit's spring.

The cave was unsurprisingly dark, given that it was nighttime. The walls glowed slightly, but the illumination wasn't nearly enough to stop him from nearly tripping over every rock he came across, and his already-slow progress slowed further. Finally, Val murmured, _"Stop."_ At Link's feet, he could barely make out the clear water in which Lanayru supposedly resided, but there was nothing special about it to his eyes. Now that he had stopped moving, the only sounds in the cave were his ragged breathing and the water lapping against the ground.

The low light reflected off of the waves, creating the effect of what looked like tiny fireflies jumping around, creating intricate patterns in the cave. Link's jaw dropped as the lights grew brighter and brighter, swirling and coalescing into the shape of a large golden sphere, around which curled a glowing snake.

His jaw slackened further as Val chirped, _"Hey Lannie! I brought him to ya!"_

Inside Link's mind, the response came in the form of a low rumble that he guessed conveyed either amusement or annoyance.

The rumble sharpened and focused into sounds recognizable as speech. _**"I've never been called 'Lannie' before."**_

Link's jaw clicked shut as he let out a sigh of relief. Definitely amusement.

" _ **Hello, young hero. As you likely know, I am…"**_

 **Light Spirit**

 **Lanayru**

 **Protector of Lanayru Province**

The spirit's announcement reverberated through Link's head, impressing upon him the gravity of the situation. He was the first Hylian in millennia to talk to a Light Spirit!

" _ **I am sure you have many questions, but regretfully I cannot answer all of them in the relatively short time we have together. First, however, let us address that weary body of yours."**_

At his feet, the surface of the lake began to emit light blue sparkles that began to spin faster and faster until they revealed a ball of light that rose to his eye level. It had translucent wings, he noticed, and seemed to bounce around excitedly in a circle in front of him.

A fairy. Raynie was going to be _jealous_...

" _ **Go on, little one."**_ At the spirit's prompting, the fairy started circling around him, spinning higher and higher while emitting more of those sparkles over his body. The pain that had been his constant companion for the past few hours vanished as the magic washed over him.

" _Whoa whoa whooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaa…"_

Val seemed to be feeling...something...as well. The map in the corner of his eye flickered, the arrow jumping around wildly before the entire diagram disappeared, to be replaced by a…rupee crystal, for some reason. On the left side of his field of view, three white dots were covered by pulsing red hearts, while under them a green bar appeared and elongated.

" _Val, what are you showing me?"_

" _Fairy juice is the quenchieeeeeeeeest…"_

Looks like he wouldn't get anything useful out of her for a little longer.

The fairy vanished into the air, and as Val's high-pitched whine began to die down, Link bowed to the spirit to express his thanks, still too shell-shocked to use his hands as he usually did.

" _ **Don't thank me, young hero, thank the Hero of Twilight. He endured an arduous ordeal to release fairies to the spirit springs. They will only appear at the spirits' behest, however. Now that we have met, you may return to this spring to replenish your energy."**_

Link nodded.

" _ **Now, while the child of Din…recuperates…I will try to answer your questions.**_

" _ **First, it was the child of Din who saved you, the one you call Valentine. She awakened when you fell and called out to me for help. I was able to provide you with the blessing of Nayru to cushion your fall. I cannot intervene so directly again, however.**_

 _ **Now, I believe you know of the man who has been designated Lord Regent."**_

Link grimaced, remembering the gaudy man currently occupying the throne of Hyrule.

" _ **I can hear you if you direct your thoughts at me, you know."**_ The spirit's rumble was amused again.

" _He's the one who ordered that my voice be taken away,"_ Link thought hesitantly - was it all right to address the spirit this freely?

" _ **Is that so? I am sorry, young hero."**_

Link waved off the apology.

" _ **So you know the character of this man. We spirits have watched his rise with trepidation, as we are attuned to the fortunes of Hyrule's people. The land has suffered greatly under his rule, but alas, the spirits are not permitted to intervene in the affairs of mortals."**_

" _Why not?"_

" _ **The mortal races must shape their own destinies; they cannot be mere puppets of the gods and their servants. That was not what the Golden Goddesses intended when they created this world."**_

" _But then why leave the Triforce and spirits like you?...no offense."_

" _ **None taken, young hero. The goddesses knew that divine powers would someday reach the hands of mortals, for mortals are nothing if not determined. Such power would tip the balance of power far, far too much, and so the goddesses created the Triforce in order to try to keep balance. Their intent was that whatever the destiny of the mortal races, they should reach it through their power and theirs alone. When forces of evil attempt to subvert this balance, the divines intervene through the Triforce, as well as other means. The Regent achieved his power through politics, and thus even though his rule is detrimental to the future of Hyrule, it is up to mortals to oust him…or at least it was until recently."**_

" _Until recently? What happened?"_

" _ **The Regent is currently using his forces to search for artifacts of great power in Hyrule. We know not how he learned of their existence or location, but given that he has found one of them and is closing in on the second, time is fast running out.**_

 _ **His men currently possess the Ocarina of Time-"**_

Link started at the name of quite possibly the most famous royal artifact.

" _ **\- an heirloom of the Royal Family used by the Hero of Time and the Princess of Destiny to capture the King of Evil. Playing the right songs on the Ocarina allows the wielder to manipulate the flow of time as he or she wishes, as well as provide various other services. We do know that it is being stored nearby, at the New Gerudo Fortress.**_

 _ **The second is the Wayfarer's Compass. Its location has been lost to time, but before then it was in the possession of the original Sheikah, servants of the Royal Family. It does not bestow powers onto its wielder as much as it amplifies its wielder's innate abilities. For example, a mage who could normally manipulate a chair from across a room would, if in possession of the compass, be able to throw a boulder from Kakariko Village to the peak of Death Mountain.**_

 _ **The final artifact is Majora's Mask. Once inhabited by an evil spirit, it attempted to bring ruin to a faraway land. The Hero of Time purified the mask, but it too has been lost to time. The mask's power is to grant the wishes of the wearer.**_

 _ **We do not yet know what the Regent plans to do with those artifacts, but the fact that he has sought them at all demands our attention. We believe that he intends to make his move in the next two months."**_

" _What's so special about the next two months?"_ That would put the deadline at right before his birthday.

" _ **These next two months are not nearly as important as the day that ends them. On that day, Princess Zelda will reach her 16**_ _ **th**_ _ **birthday, and with it, the age of majority. She will thus ascend to the throne and likely strip the Regent of much of his power. He must act before that date, or lose his best chance to cement his rule. We can only thank the goddesses that no harm has befallen the princess as of yet, but with the coronation rapidly approaching, every player on this world's stage is running out of time."**_

" _So I have two months to find these three artifacts, one of which he already has,_ and _I have to protect the princess while I'm doing it? Sounds like a milk run. What's next? Should I also fight the entire Sheikah Squad blindfolded?"_

Hadn't he just been annoyed at Val for being flippant to a Light Spirit? His big mouth was going to get him into even _more_ trouble than it already had, it seemed.

Luckily, he heard the amused rumble again. _**"Ah, young hero, the mountain always looks larger from the foot than it does from the peak. That being said, this journey will not be easy. There is no need to fear, however; you're in good company, young hero."**_

"' _Good company'? And why do you keep calling me a hero?"_

" _ **The answers to both of your questions are one and the same. Two thousand years ago, a teenager stood in front of my sister Ordona at her spring, where he was presented with a green tunic-the Hero's clothes. He had blonde hair and carried his weapons with his left hand. He was a man of few words, as well as an orphan.**_

" _ **His name was Link."**_

Link's eyes widened. Badguy's voice echoed in the back of his mind: _"The legendary hero, huh? Good name."_

" _ **The Hero of Time, the Hero of Men, the Hero of the Sky…quiet blondes all, with garb of green and the name Link. Most were left-handed, and they often traveled with companions who spoke for them."**_

Link glanced at Val's glove, belatedly noting that she seemed to have come down from whatever rush the fairy energy had given her. She'd just said that she could talk in his place, hadn't she? That's a lot of boxes he was ticking...

" _ **Do not worry about living up to expectations, young hero. Hyrule Castle was not built in a day, nor would anyone recognize it as the great palace it would become when the cornerstone was laid. You don't believe that you are the hero, which is understandable. But the goddesses do, and I for one agree with them.**_

" _ **So what I am asking, young hero, is not that you believe you are the hero, for that will come in time. Believe instead in the divines, in their wisdom that led them to believe in you."**_

/_\

Link emerged from the cave with a hand over his eyes. By his internal clock, after the conversation with Lanayru, enough time should have passed for the sun to be up. Instead, it looked like barely an hour had passed since he'd woken up.

Val apparently noticed his surprise, commenting _"Speaking mentally is a lot faster than physically."_

Link nodded, adding _"Too bad we can only do this between us."_

He stretched out, enjoying the feeling of not being in constant pain that had plagued him until the fairy had healed him. He'd heard that previous heroes had captured fairies in bottles, but glass bottles like those used by the heroes were fairly rare in Hyrule nowadays. Most cheap containers were breakable, which was acceptable for daily use but not for the various dangers faced in battle. Clear, sturdy glass bottles were either sold for exorbitant prices at auctions or guarded jealously by their owners.

" _Val, how do I get to the New Gerudo Fortress? Point me towards it and we can talk on the way, assuming we don't get attacked again."_

" _Calculating…"_ The map in the lower right corner of the screen opened up to fill his entire field of view while remaining transparent enough to see through. The effect was still pretty disorienting, especially when the view zoomed out from Lake Hylia and moved over to the irregular shape of the Gerudo Desert. A red dot appeared in the southeast, zooming in to reveal that it was planted in the middle of a fortress compound. The target marker flashed twice before his view returned to Lake Hylia, where his arrow was now connected to a red dotted line. The line snaked along the southern wall, crossed the Great Bridge, and then disappeared into the scaffolding that lined the lake's northern wall. This entire process took only a few seconds, after which the map shrunk back down into the corner of his vision.

Link shook his head and immediately regretted it as a wave of nausea rushed over him. To Val's concerned inquiry, he only replied _"I'll be fine in a second, just…don't do that while we're moving, please."_

" _Oh. Oops. Sorry, Link, I just think that it looks really cool and all but if it makes you feel weird I can turn off the animations."_

Link mentally bit down on the _"What are animations?"_ thought, instead starting along the path. First, he needed to get to the ladder that would get him back up onto the bridge.

A thought struck him. _"You didn't actually finish introducing yourself, did you? You got to the 'n' in your name and then we got jumped. Where did that guy go, anyway?"_

" _I think he's left, although I would advise you to be cautious; he may attempt to ambush us again._

" _So we finished Navigation…next is Transmitter, then. I can do a lot more than give you map information. While my 'senses' don't extend beyond yours, I can analyze it a lot faster than the human brain can, and send you the information. I can also display things like your approximate physical condition using…whoa, hold on."_

She was silent for a full minute before continuing. During that time, he reached the ladder and started climbing.

" _Sorry about that…I'll get back to you later about what just happened. As I was saying, I can display things like your approximate physical condition. It's in the upper left."_ As she spoke, three red hearts appeared in the upper left corner of his eye, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. _"It's rather simple: full hearts means you're unharmed, no hearts means you're close to incapacitated."_

"… _I see a lot of problems with how that's set up."_

" _It's…tradition. It works well enough, and I work in information, not field medicine. Take it or leave it."_

" _Fine. But why three hearts? Kind of random, don't you think?"_

" _As you get stronger, you'll get more. There are also...well, heart containers probably don't exist. Don't worry about it."_ That opened up a bunch more questions in Link's head, but he let her continue. _"Anyway, I can also display things like what you have on you. Like so…uh, you know what, I'll wait until you reach the top."_ That last comment was in response to the fact that at her "like so", Link had stopped climbing and locked himself in a deathgrip on the ladder. He'd expected something disorienting, similar to what happened with the map earlier, and being nauseous while climbing a ladder was not a combination he wished to experience.

Link fired off a sarcastic _"Thanks,"_ before resuming his climb, ignoring her indignant mental huff.

At the top, he turned towards the entrance to the bridge, reorienting himself along the dotted red line in the corner of his vision. He was again at the start of the Great Bridge of Hylia, but this time he was both unmounted and missing his friends.

He shook his head, forestalling the rising wave of sadness and regret before it could overwhelm him; he didn't have time for this.

 _They_ didn't have time for this.

He stepped onto the bridge. Val seemed to sense his melancholy, and she remained quiet.

On foot, it took longer to reach the ambush site, but in time, he reached the charred bodies and broken weapons that marked their battle. He stepped over the bodies of the two men he and Raynie had defeated, noting the streaks along the stones where Raynie had been dragged up by whoever had taken her.

Val chimed in. _"There aren't any bloodstains, just soot and fabric from her tunic. It is overwhelmingly likely that, judging from the injuries you received in the explosion and the fact that she was behind you, she has received only minor bruising."_

" _Thanks."_ Her spear wasn't lying around anywhere, so it had probably been taken by her captors. Or the bomb-toting archer.

He moved on. The gigantic man who Ernest had been fighting was lying against the side of the bridge. His claymore lay in his open palm, while his left hand was curled up in his lap. Link looked up to see that a knife lay buried in the man's throat far enough that he couldn't see any of the blade.

Link was able to piece this scene together from his own memories without Val's help. Ernest's first strike had freed many of the woman's hidden knives. With so many weapons lying around, it would have been child's play for his mentor to scoop up a knife mid-dodge and deal a precise blow in an unarmored weak spot. By this point, Link had already fallen and Raynie was incapacitated, so their captors took her hostage to force Ernest to surrender. Luckily, there had been only light traffic on the bridge that day, so he could still make out the tracks that they had taken.

Fortunately, they led towards the Gerudo Desert.

Link grinned at his unexpected luck. If he hurried, he could catch up and find his friends and the ocarina at the same time, and with the energy the fairy had given him, he could walk all night—

" _Link! Something's moving behind us!"_ He whipped his head around, but in the darkness all he could see was a shifting, shadowy figure. It jerked slightly then its midsection became a blur of motion that looked something like a person drawing back a bow…

Every fiber of his being groaned in unison, begging his assailant to just _give up already._

The bridge was an open space, which was great for through traffic but not so much for young heroes looking for cover. He looked around frantically before diving forward to hide behind the bulky corpse of the claymore bandit. The fatal wound had not bled very much, which was completely fine with Link since being next to a day-old corpse was already rather disgusting.

An arrow hissed through where he had been standing, striking the ground head-first. Instead of skittering away like arrows normally would, it bounced, rolling to a stop a couple of arms lengths away. It was too far to reach without leaving cover, but definitely close enough to see that the arrow was a bomb arrow with the head unexploded. A dud.

His assailant roared, "Come out, boy! Yer not gettin' away again!" An arrow arced over his makeshift cover and the side of the bridge to explode at the lake's surface far below.

Silence. Link thought furiously. He'd likely win in melee, but charging him would do nothing but provide the bandit with the easiest shot of his life. His shield was on death's door, his bow was broken, options were looking pretty limited _—_

His racing thoughts were interrupted by another explosion, this one on the guardrail a few feet in front of him. This arrow had come in from a much higher angle. The archer had come to the same conclusion about melee combat, then, and he was now trying to smoke Link out of cover without risking blowing him off the bridge.

And given that they were bomb arrows, he didn't exactly have to hit a bullseye to be effective. Time was definitely running out, although Link hoped against hope that the man would run out of bombs first.

In the corner of his eye, the heart display shifted upwards slightly as a green bar popped into existence under it, quickly shading itself in with a lighter green color.

" _Uh, Val?"_

" _Lannie gave us more than information,"_ Val said with satisfaction in her tone.

" _I'll take your word for it, but will whatever that green thing is actually help us_ not get blown up? _"_ Link was suddenly grateful that his mental voice wasn't affected by physical conditions like vocal cords would be. If he had been able to speak out loud, he _knew_ his voice would have cracked.

" _Do you see that first bomb arrow he shot at us?"_ The object in question was still in the middle of the bridge, but slightly farther away due to the subsequent explosion.

" _It's a dud, isn't it?"_

" _No, the fuse isn't burned. My guess is that he got startled when you turned around to look and he screwed up igniting it. On my signal, you need to dive out, grab it, and put your right index finger to the fuse, then throw it at him."_

" _Uh…last I checked, I can't light bombs with my bare hands, and the igniter would be somewhere on him or his bow, wouldn't it?"_

" _He's about to fire, Link, this is the time. Trust me?"_

How could she know that? But even as he mentally asked the question, he shifted into a crouch, being careful to stay out of sight as his surroundings sharpened into focus. As before, their mental conversation had only lasted for a fraction of a second, so Link estimated that the archer would fire any moment. Now that he was focused, he could hear the _snap-hiss_ of a fuse being lit, and the stretching sound that he associated with bowshot.

Val had said that she could analyze his senses better, so was she just picking out the important sounds and making sure those were the only things he could hear?

 _Twang!_

The man fired, Val yelled _"Go!"_ , and Link moved.

Two steps to get in range, and then a forward roll with right hand outstretched to grab the shaft. He cupped the round bomb that formed the arrowhead in his left hand, feeling its surface while snapping the shaft in his right. Stick the landing, focus to dissipate the dizziness, and the move was complete: his left hand held the bomb while his right index finger was touching the fuse.

" _Now what?"_ Throwing an unlit bomb didn't strike him as the best way out of his predicament.

Val ignored him, exclaiming _"Redfinger! Er, no, that sounded cooler before I said it…"_

At the first word, the tip of his index finger burst into flame, lighting the bomb's fuse.

Link almost dropped it out of shock, but he realized that his finger _wasn't burning_ —

" _What are you waiting for?!"_

Link reared back and threw. The shot probably wouldn't win him any prizes at carnival, but Link was satisfied with it anyway.

After all, he didn't need to hit a bullseye.

Link's bomb exploded at the same time that the archer's shot did; if he'd moved any slower, he would have definitely been in the blast radius. As it was, the shockwave threatened to knock him off his feet, but he steadied himself.

The archer had pulled out and ignited another bomb, so when Link's projectile exploded on his left, the shock bowled him over and dislodged both the lit bomb in his hand and the extras in his pack.

The fireball reached into the sky, lighting up the Great Bridge like a midnight sun. Various objects flew—Link noted that at least two bodies flipped over the side—but Link was most interested in the man's bow, which landed at his feet in charred, mangled pieces, and an unidentified object that skittered past him towards the Gerudo side of the bridge.

Link spared a final glance at the settling dust before turning around to see a flat object a few yards away. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a mask, carved in the image of a hawk's steely gaze.

Link hoped against hope that it was Majora's Mask, but -

" _Da da da daaaaaaaaaaaaah!"_ Val hollered in a singsong voice. Link nearly dropped the thing, and the anger in his thoughts didn't need to be verbalized for Val to start apologizing.

" _Yeah….that's tradition too, sorry. It's just that this could be really useful! I mean…You got the_ _ **Hawkeye**_ _!"_

Link had thought that Lanayru was the only being who could give spoken words the feeling of being bolded, but Val was definitely succeeding.

" _It allows you to see over great distances, and if you get a bow-"_ he kicked the charred remnants of the man's weapon away - _"you can even use it to hit targets that are even farther away!"_

Link slid it into his tunic, bemoaning the loss of his bags, as in the upper-right corner of his eye an image of the Hawkeye appeared in front of a small circle.

" _Uh, I don't think I need that, I don't think I'll forget everything that I have in my two pockets. Maybe if I find some bags…"_ The archer's were probably beyond salvaging at this point; it was a miracle that the mask was even usable after the explosion - wait, how had he _done_ that?

" _How did I do that uh…finger thing? Lighting the bomb?"_

" _Heh. We'd only gotten to T. The 'I' in my name stands for…incendiary! My user has access to fire magic! Unfortunately, it relies on the user's innate magical energy, and most people aren't in tune with that. You weren't until you met Lannie."_

" _That's what he gave us?"_

" _Yeah! Check out the green bar under your hearts."_ It was nearly full, but a sliver of the lighter green was missing. _"You can use it until the bar runs out, but resting and eating will give you more energy. We definitely have to think of a better name for that than 'Redfinger', though…"_

Ignoring Val's musings, Link held out his palm and focused.

A small, handheld flame sprang to life, warming his face but not burning his hands.

For the first time that day, Link grinned, and thought: Thanks, doc.


	5. 4: Gerudo Fortress

**Chapter 4: Gerudo Fortress**

( _Tactical_Espionage?)_

-Lake Hylia (Lakeside Climb)-

Link pulled himself up onto the wooden platform that marked the end of the Gerudo Scaffolding and scanned the surrounding landscape. A grass-lined dirt path extended before him, but Link could see the grass slowly thinning as it receded into the distance.

Once only dirt and sand remained, he would be at the Gerudo Desert.

The sun was just peeking over the horizon, leaving plenty of shadows from which people could be watching him. His roving gaze, aided by Valentine's analysis, determined that he was alone, at least for the moment. It made sense; everyone in the immediate area thought he was dead, and it seemed unlikely that his foe from last night would have left anyone waiting for him. The only bandit left was injured and was presumably at the fortress recuperating.

Add to that the fact that they would have to hold Ernest and Raynie for at least a couple of days while information was exchanged and preparations made. If he could make a move quickly, he could rescue his friends and figure out whatever was being held in the desert.

Yeah, he thought, a teenager, the voice in his head, and a little fire should be able to knock over the biggest fortress that isn't Hyrule Castle. Easy.

Link started walking.

Earnest would often tell him that fear killed the mind, that thinking of reasons why he couldn't do something was the first step in ensuring that he _wouldn't_.

Val sensed his conflict and chimed in. _"NE stands for Navi Edition. Do you know who Navi was?"_ Link recognized the name, but he couldn't place it. _"She was the fairy who first traveled with the Hero of Time, providing information and aid. I was given her name as a description of my function…and also to spell 'Valentine.' The point is that I'm here to help you. I can sense your turmoil. If I had to guess, you're nervous about what you're going to do in the fortress."_

Link didn't respond for a good while. The surrounding environment slowly drained of color until what little plant life lined the path was more brown than green.

Finally, he gathered his thoughts.

" _All I've heard is that this is the impregnable fortress built as a successor to the Arbiter's Grounds and now run by the Sheikah. There are apparently traps everywhere, security on par with that of Hyrule Castle now that the Sheikah run things, and even if you penetrate the high-security areas, there's some final hazard that no one survives."_

Val's voice contained a teasing note. _"If no one survives, where do the stories come from?"_

" _That's…maybe the Sheikah spread stories to discourage attempts."_

" _No one survives being executed, either, and yet the Demon King returned from his."_

" _But didn't he have the Triforce of Power?"_

" _Don't you have the blessing of a light spirit?"_

" _That light spirit also thinks_ I'm _the next legendary hero. I'm good with a sword and bow, but if that made you the hero, half the Bannerless would have Triforces."_

Her voice took on the monotone quality that it usually did when she was stating probabilities. _"Searching quotation database…complete."_ Back in her normal tone, she continued _"'It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.' That was said by the sage known as Albus to a young hero, long ago. Right now, you're walking into the most fearsome fortress in Hyrule to save your friends. If that's not heroic…"_

" _The light spirit told me that an artifact was there, so I would be going anyway."_

" _You could always go back and get the Bannerless to raise an army to storm the fortress, or just run to Labrynna or Holodrum where you don't have to worry about Triforces or artifacts or Regents."_

Link bristled at the suggestions. _"And what's going to happen to Ernest and Raynie in the days or weeks it'll take—oh."_

" _That's what I thought, hero."_ Val fell into a distinctly smug silence as Link gritted his teeth, annoyed that he'd fallen into her verbal trap so easily. He dropped the subject, however, as he noticed the map in the corner of his eye change. The shape of Lake Hylia under his yellow arrow changed into the irregular, jagged Gerudo Desert.

-Gerudo Valley-

Link's clothing was the only spot of green in the brown, arid desert. The monotonous view was broken only by the ridges of windswept sand dunes as far as the eye could see. To the west, the sky darkened as powerful gusts of wind whipped up the loose sand into one of the valley's famous sandstorms.

Luckily, he wasn't going that way. The red dot that marked his destination was directly north of his current position, and only a few hours away given his estimates. He should definitely be able to reach it with his current supplies. His hat would protect his head from the blazing sun, and they had of course prepared a surplus of water since they would be traveling through the desert.

Water that was currently in his saddlebags. That were attached to his horse. Whose location he currently _didn't know_.

Oh, dear goddesses.

Link's eyes unfocused slightly as he registered how incredibly screwed he was. He couldn't make it all the way to the fortress without water, so the obvious solution would be to return to Lake Hylia and gather some, but he had nothing in which to store it.

" _What, did you think I would strand you in the desert without water? That'd make me a pretty bad navigator."_ Two blue dots popped into existence on his map, dividing the path into rough thirds. _"The Postmen use this path to get to the fortress, and they need to refill their water supplies and rations, especially when they walk. If you're lucky, they'll even have square waterskins and food. You'll just have to get there, which is plenty doable especially since we got energized by Lannie's fairy."_

Link set out a sigh of relief and started walking, following the well-worn footpath and the relatively fresh tracks of those who had traveled it before him.

/_\

The sun was halfway to its apex when Link reached the first water station. According to Val, it was a simple setup: a small buried storage tank connected to a pump that emptied into a small pool from which people and horses could drink. There was even a small chest next to the pump that contained two waterskins, jerky, and dried fruit. Link filled a waterskin and started drinking. The cool water felt like heaven to his parched mouth and tired body, and it took considerable effort to stop before he drank too much and bloated himself.

After he finished, he began to top off the container, but then a movement in the corner of his eye drew his attention. A caravan of Gerudo-style carriages was making its way down the path towards him. He forced down the instinctive panic and calmly finished filling his waterskin before stuffing it in his belt along with some food.

They didn't know that he was alive, and even if they did, why would he be in the desert? As long as he acted natural, he'd be fine. He hoped.

" _Val, who do you think they are?"_

" _My guess would be the outgoing food shipment wagon. They're likely merchants or couriers, and not affiliated with the Sheikah or the bandits. Do you want me to speak for you?"_

" _No, I think I can handle this. Thanks for the offer."_

He continued towards the fortress and the carriages, but it was another ten or so minutes before they crossed paths. The drivers and Link exchanged glances as they passed, and Link placed his fingers on the brim of his hat in a pseudo-tipping motion as he passed each of them.

He thought to Val, _"How many food wagons do they need?"_

She (mentally) shrugged.

/_\

Link obtained a second waterskin and more food from the next refilling station, and with his newly doubled stores, he diverged from the main path and circled around to the east side until he found a dune formation that afforded some shade as well as a decent vantage point. The Hawkeye mask proved to be an extremely useful tool for scouting the fortress. Dials on the side controlled zoom and focus, and Val's ability to target points of interest helped him get a good mental picture.

For the subject of such terrifying stories, the New Gerudo Fortress did not cut an imposing figure. Two stories of grey stone were arranged in a square around a central courtyard. The only guards he could see were on the roof, which surprised him. Being exposed to the sun while staring out at the monotony of the desert would not help the guards' spotting ability.

" _I could probably walk up to the front door and they'd think I was a mirage…"_

He next focused on the windows in his field of view. No one passed by, even after an hour.

" _Okay, what's going on? This is the most guarded fortress in Hyrule, and all they have are two guys on a roof? Nobody's doing rounds inside or sweeping the grounds? There were probably more people on the food caravan than guards out here."_

" _I have no idea, Link. I don't have access to military or Sheikah secrets."_

Link ground his teeth and resumed scanning. This entire setup screamed 'trap', but what choice did he have?

The sun had completed about three-fourths of its daily journey by the time Link decided that he had enough information. By his estimation, the roof guards were set to be replaced in ten minutes. Being close to the end of their shifts in the hot sun, they would be tired, bored, and probably less able to spot him. Also, the current position of the sun shaded the sands between him and the fortress wall, which would better hide his green clothing as he approached.

Gear check.

He stashed the Hawkeye, checked his sword and battered shield, and lit a small flame on his index finger. The green bar under his heart display, which had filled when he ate, drained again slightly.

" _You know you can make bigger fires than that, right Link?"_

" _But that'll cost more energy, won't it? Let's conserve it until I need it. Besides, it doesn't need to be any hotter around here."_

Closing his hand into a fist extinguished the small flame.

Time to begin.

/_\

"Join the Sheikah, they said. It'd be cool, they said," sighed the guard, tapping his spear against the stone roof. "I didn't sign up to be a guard in this goddess-forsaken desert. And with all of those monsters running around..."

The sand didn't reply. A heat haze wafted up from the surrounding dunes. Staring at the sand was oddly peaceful, at least until the mirages started happening-damn. He'd looked too long, and now shapes were swarming around. The guard turned toward the central courtyard, blinking rapidly. Once his vision stopped swimming, he chanced another look outwards, and his reward was more heat haze.

"Five more minutes…" The promise of rest seemed to invigorate the man, who stood straighter and continued towards the end of his rounds.

In the large area of shade created by the fortress, Link let out a sigh of relief. He had been right about the guards having less than optimal vision. He continued forwards until he hit the wall right under one of the windows he'd been studying earlier. This one had no bars in it, and the weathered stone under it provided perfect handholds. He climbed up until his fingertips were hanging from the windowsill. Mindful of the fact that there could be traps, he pulled himself up slowly until he could give the room a quick scan.

The room had bare grey stone walls. The dull red carpet on the floor provided a splash of color, but it had definitely seen better days. It might have been a training room, but there wasn't much else in the room that gave a hint as to its purpose.

Most importantly, the room was empty. Link pulled himself up farther, swung his legs over the sill, dropped to the ground, and heard a _click._

Link rolled forward in a tight ball, coming up with shield out. A bolt hissed through the space where he'd been standing, parallel to the window.

" _Well, the stories weren't lying about the traps."_

The pressure plate had been hidden underneath the rug, and now that Link knew they were there, the holes in the walls that held crossbows were obvious.

The room had one door, and Val confirmed that there were four more crossbow traps. He sprinted to the door, staying a step ahead of the whizzing bolts until he hit the pressure plate directly behind the door. He jumped back, grabbing the handle and using his motion to fling open the door-a bolt thudded into it as he landed. He reversed momentum once again to practically fly through the open doorway and skid to a stop in the stone hallway.

A quick look both ways confirmed that there were indeed no patrols that he could see. He closed the door behind him anyway; no point making it too easy for them to realize that there was an intruder.

His map showed that he was in a rectangular loop of a hallway that was longer than it was wide. The two northern corners housed staircases that led down to the first floor, while the southern staircases provided access to the roof. Yellow doors dotted the hallway's outer walls.

" _Val, would you happen to know where Raynie is?"_

" _Unfortunately, I don't have current data on the interior of this building. I can only show you places that we're in on the map until we find a more recent plan. Look."_ The map expanded to fill his vision, and now he could see both the hallway he was currently in and the outline of the room he had climbed into. The rest was blank. On the right side, the phrase "2F" was highlighted. Under it was the phrase "1F", and when Link instinctively reached out to it, the main view switched to a completely blank slate.

" _That's the first floor, which we know exists but don't have any data for, so it's blank. As we explore, we can fill it in, or we can skip all that if we find a map."_

" _So we're searching the old-fashioned way, then. Fun, not easy."_

" _For certain definitions of 'fun'. Keep an eye on the stairs; the rooftop guard said something about switching in a couple minutes."_

He turned left and headed towards the two doors between himself and the south staircase. The first room looked empty when he opened it, but the second looked like some sort of administrative office. A desk was covered in parchments, and a small chest rested in the corner. He looked at the papers; rows and rows of columns and figures made his head spin.

" _Val, anything useful in this...jumble?"_

" _Give me a sec. I have an image stored so you can keep looking around while I analyze it."_

The chest naturally drew his attention. A quick once-over confirmed that it was unlocked. Inside were rumpled clothes, assorted odds and ends, and some Rupee crystals - two reds and two greens.

That money probably belonged to whoever worked in this room...

A smaller, more insistent voice replied _Yeah, a puppet of an illegitimate ruler who's captured your friends._

Was that really their fault, though?

" _Just following orders" isn't an excuse. Besides, you lost all your stuff, you need this more than they probably do._

Link ground his teeth...and stuffed the Rupees in his pouch.

In an amused tone, Val commented, _"Previous Monomyths also make a point of noting the kleptomaniac tendencies of their heroes. That's another box you've checked."_

" _Klepto-what?"_

" _They stole things, especially Rupees, that weren't secured. Being inside pots, by the way, didn't count as 'secured' because they broke those. I'm pretty sure the Hero of Time was banned from a pottery shop in Castle Town."_

" _Not helping, Val. What was on the table?"_ He headed out into the hallway and rounded the corner, keeping an eye and ear on the staircases from the roof.

" _Most of it is useful - logistics and such - but not immediately helpful. My analysis of the data does confirm that_ something _is in the fortress that rates high-level security. It's really weird, though. The object arrived a few weeks ago, during which time the fortress was in a high-security state. Many guards, the maximum number of rotations possible, the works. But yesterday, there was a recall order for Sheikah agents above a certain rank, leaving only just enough for a skeleton crew. They just left for the castle...this morning."_

" _The caravan that we passed."_

" _Got it in one. That's why we didn't see many guards or patrols. More good news: there were two prisoners brought here yesterday, and it looks like they didn't even take the item with them."_

Link breathed a sigh of relief.

" _Bad news, one of them was taken to the capital with the rest of the Sheikah, and it doesn't say who."_ Link sighed again, this time frustrated as he looked inside the southernmost room. Another office that looked more spacious and less cluttered than the previous one.

" _And in order to make up their guard shortage…"_ He wrenched open the door, walked in, and the world flipped end over end.

" _They've put monsters in various places."_

He spun through the air until his back slammed painfully into the desk. As his shield took most of the impact, it was more painful than injurious. The rightmost heart in his display lost a quarter of its area.

Pushing off the desk, he rolled to the side and drew his sword in the same motion,turning to face his assailant.

An empty room was all that greeted him.

" _Please tell me they don't have invisible monsters…"_

" _No. Look at the floor tiles."_ Link obliged, quickly noticing a discolored floor tile that was two or three steps away from the door. As he focused on it, the tile outlined itself in red, and Val began to speak.

" _That's a Tile Worm. It blends in with other floor tiles and throws you when you step on it. A strong gust of wind can flip it over and make it vulnerable."_

" _Sure you're not hiding a secret fan mode?"_

" _Sorry, Link. You'll have to be careful. I can't tell if they're there until they show themselves."_

" _Or I step on them. Great."_ Link lit a fireball and experimentally tossed it at the outlined tile. Embers spread over the surface, but the creature didn't appear to be disturbed.

New plan. Link turned to the desk he had crashed into and leapt onto it, turning to survey the rest of the room. The tiled floor extended away from the door to the window, unbroken by anything except the desk he was standing on and the bookshelf against the wall to his right. He sheathed his sword, measuring the distance with his eyes, and jumped. The angle that he jumped at only allowed him to grab the top of the bookshelf with his right hand, and he swung precariously around the edge until his left hand found a grip on the edge parallel to the wall. He shimmied around the edge of the bookshelf until he was hanging, one-handed, off the opposite side of the bookshelf to the one he had landed on.

From his current position, he could see that the room actually made a right-angle, and in the section of the room that could not be seen from the door, the floor was carpeted.

Still wary, he asked _"Anything you can sense there, Val?"_

" _No, but be careful."_

He snorted, swung forward, and kicked off the wall to land perfectly on the carpet...and a gate slammed shut, separating the carpeted area from the tiled floor. Link's sword instantly made its way into his hand.

" _I am getting really tired of this trap nonsense."_

A section of the stone wall opened and three monsters entered the area.

" _Link, those are Helmasaurs, relatively young monsters with steel shells covering their heads and torsos. They attack by charging, which leaves their hindquarters open to counterattacks. The shells can also be removed with the application of enough force."_

True to form, the first Helmasaur charged immediately upon spotting Link, who jumped to the side.

The iron shell meeting the metal gate reminded Link of a giant pair of cymbals.

He started to bring his sword down on the stunned creature, but a flash of movement in the corner of his eye made him abandon the swing to instead jump back-

Helmasaur two had followed in the footsteps of the first. Link was a bit too far away for a sword strike, and in any case he had already focused on the immediate threat of the third.

Helmasaur three started its run, and Link readied a fireball. Instead of dodging to the side, he jumped forward, placed one foot on the shell, and propelled himself into a spin that allowed him to launch the fireball into the unprotected backside of the Helmasaur. It screamed and set off in a panic-

" _That was so cool, Link!"_ Val gushed. _"What do you want to call that one? Flaming Spin? Tornado Chaser?"_

-and Link landed, slightly disoriented. He'd miscalculated and spun a little too much, and Val's machinegun patter hadn't helped.

The first Helmasaur had recovered from its self-inflicted concussion and charged again. Instead of a 'Tornado Chaser', he chose the simple option and jumped straight up-

-landing on the shell of the also-charging Helmasaur Two-

-and thus introducing his head to the carpet.

Two and a quarter hearts left.

He couldn't just keep reacting...

Helmasaur Three had yet to calm down, so he had two immediate concerns. From his position on the floor, he could see Helmasaur Two begin to turn towards him again.

Which meant that the first one was about to charge-

He backrolled to his feet- Helmasaur One whizzed by, right on schedule- and jumped forward, bringing his sword down in an overhead arc with a "Hyaa!" The blade cut deep, and the monster exploded in a cloud of black mist, leaving the shell resting against the gate.

One.

Another jump back removed him from the path of Helmasaur Two, and a horizontal swing struck home but didn't kill the monster. That honor belonged to the fireball he launched during his follow-through.

Two.

He looked around, noting that the final Helmasaur had performed the monstrous version of stop-drop-roll and was now rather angry. Probably. The shell hid its face, so he couldn't really tell.

It charged -its angry charge was the same as its normal charge, apparently-and Link stepped to the left, turning the momentum into a backhanded spin attack.

Then third shell spun to rest, empty, besides its brethren as the metal gate retracted.

On the far end of the carpeting, a key rested on a hook set in the wall, which Link took. It had no identifying markings whatsoever.

" _Any idea what this is, Val?"_

" _It's probably the key for the prison cells. Keys for other rooms would be carried on the person of whomever had clearance to unlock it, but prison keys are the only ones that are left out to be passed from person to person."_

He turned, walking to the edge of the carpet.

" _...wait a minute. Assuming they don't set this off every time they want to get to the key, the gate and monster trap is to keep intruders like me away from the key."_

" _Yeah, and?"_

" _So why would they open the gate_ after _I kill everything in the room? That feels like the absolute worst thing for them to do in this situation."_

" _As far as I know, it's a tradition."_

" _Have you noticed that every time you try to justify something with a 'tradition', that something is usually problematic?"_

" _I have no idea what you're talking about."_

/_\

Using the shells as decoys, Link puzzled out the locations of the Tile Worms and traveled the safe path back to the central hall.

" _Okay, so we have a key. Did that paper say anything about where the prison is, Val?"_

" _Sorry, Link, we just have to keep searching."_

He rounded the corner and was presented with three doors on the left side of the hall, and his decision-making process was sped up by the sound of footsteps on the staircase behind him. He rushed for the first door and managed to get himself through it with enough time to close it relatively softly behind him.

Wary of traps like the Tile Worms from the last room, he stayed in the doorway, giving the room a quick survey. Val's map showed that the room was nearly as long as the hallway itself, and one of the other doors was an alternate entrance. In the dim light provided by the setting sun, Link could see five cells set against the outer wall, sectioned off by stone walls and separated from the inner section by metal bars.

Found the prison.

The first cell was empty, but he couldn't see the rest from his vantage point, so he stepped forward...and gates slammed down in front of the exits.

" _I don't know why I wasn't expecting that…"_

A figure straightened up from the shadows in the corner across from Link, speaking in a commanding voice.

"That doesn't look like a Sheikah uniform. State your name and rank, agent."

" _Farram it. Val, help."_

Val's tone, serious for once, echoed through the cell block. "Private First Class Yuuki, ma'am."

" _How'd you know my-not the time."_

" _Start walking forward; we need to see her better if a fight breaks out."_ Link kept his sword sheathed, advancing slowly with his right hand resting at the small of his back. He readied himself to throw a fireball at a moment's notice without actually preparing one that would stand out in the dim light.

"Yuuki...that's not a name I recognize. Who's your CO?"

"Staff Sergeant...Hartman, ma'am."

"Count yourself lucky, then, that Hartman's not here to see your ridiculous attire." The officer removed her left hand from the wall, revealing the switch that she had presumably thrown to lower the gates. "Given that I share ranks with Hartman, I'll assign your punishment instead. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Link bowed as she turned towards the wall. _Come on, open the gates…_

Metal clinked, Link raised his head-and he promptly threw himself to the side, loosing a fireball at the officer as a projectile whizzed through the space where his chest had been.

The woman stepped aside almost contemptuously, right hand extended, and the fireball dissipated harmlessly on the stones behind her.

He noted that his magic was at about two-thirds; those fireballs took a lot of energy.

A mechanism activated in the woman's hand and the projectile _reversed course_ through the air, snapping back into her hand, where it opened into a claw-like shape.

"Nice try, impostor, but next time you might not want to use the name of the person standing in front of you."

Val moaned, " _Man, a 6 percent chance to get it wrong and that's what happened?"_

The woman continued unperturbed. "Good thing we're in the prison already so you don't have far to go after I take you down. I'm Staff Sergeant Olivia Hartman, and I'll learn your name when I interrogate you."

The claw leapt at his chest once more.


	6. 5: Red in Blade and Claw

Author's Note: This'll probably be the last chapter for a couple weeks, gotta plan out the next section a bit more. Who knew designing dungeons was hard?

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Red in Blade and Claw**

 _(Heart_Container_Arrhythmia)_

-Gerudo Fortress (2F, Prison)-

 _("I'm Staff Sergeant Olivia Hartman, and I'll learn your name when I interrogate you."_

 _The claw leapt at his chest once more.)_

Link rolled to the right, and as the claw retracted, he charged, pulling out his sword and shield. He put his momentum behind a running stab, but her left hand pulled out a small dagger that parried the blade away from her towards the wall. He went with the motion, spinning with his shield held up to protect from counter-attacks, and the _crunch_ of metal on wood accompanied a yank that pulled his shield from his arm. He had to straighten his arm to prevent the force from breaking it entirely.

Hartman jumped back, tossed the shield to the side and smirked. "Ooh, this is a _fun_ toy."

" _Val, what the hell is she using?"_

" _I think it's a Clawshot, an item used by the Hero of Twilight. It shoots out a retractable claw that can latch onto things and pull them to her. She can also pull herself to things that are anchored like ivy on walls, metal gates, and the like."_

" _And what happens if it grabs me?"_

" _Let's not find out."_

" _Do you have any information on this woman?"_

" _Searching…"_

He ducked the next claw, studying her. Now that he was closer, he could see that she was wielding the Clawshot in her right hand and the dagger in her left, with a short sword on her hip. If she wanted to draw it, she would have to sheathe or drop one of her currently-held weapons.

Link quickly came to the conclusion that closing in and taking advantage of the time she'd need to take to pull out her weapons was the best plan.

He sidestepped another claw. That plan would, of course, be complicated by the fact that she was _fast_ and ready for him to try something like that.

" _I don't have detailed information on any specific soldiers. Above a certain rank, they get one-sentence descriptions that are usually cryptic, symbolic, or quotations. Hartman's is 'Agents die, but the Squad lives forever.'"_

" _I mean that tells me a lot about her attitude, but that doesn't help me right now…"_

This time when the claw fired, he stepped to the left, using his empty right hand to grab the chain that the projectile was attached to. The claw attempted to retract itself, but Link planted his feet, and the tug-of-war began.

His magic meter started slowly draining as he heated his hand and thus the metal of the Clawshot. It wouldn't be enough to actually damage the structural integrity of the gadget, but it would definitely be difficult for anyone to hold with their bare hands.

Hartman was finding this out the hard way; her grip was slackening on the Clawshot as she tried to avoid burning herself. She started to switch the handle to her left hand -

Perfect.

-and Link let go of the chain. The freed claw resumed its journey back to its source, and Link followed at top speed. The claw _clinked_ into its resting position, and the jolt nearly knocked it from her hands. Hartman gritted her teeth, tossing the heated item aside, and drew the shortsword and dagger just barely in time to stop Link's sword from carving out her stomach. As it was, his blade scored a shallow cut across her midriff.

Now Link was in his element, although Hartman was no slouch in swordplay. Additionally, she had a parrying dagger while Link was still missing his shield. If he attacked carelessly, her parry would leave him open to counterattack, while he lacked similar defensive capabilities.

Link went on the offensive with a careful series of two-handed strikes that probed at her defenses, all the while keenly aware that she was performing the same analysis. He attempted to move the battle in such a way that he could disengage and reach for his fallen shield, but she was savvy to that trick. Failing that, he tried to overpower her two-handed, but she was too fast for that. They were locked in one place, each unable to overcome the other as their blades locked.

He knew he could win given enough time, but he'd be so tired afterwards...why he let her grab the _shield_?

Hartman tilted her head, smirking. "Your voice hasn't dropped yet, huh? Thought you were a girl."

" _Val, don't respond, she'll notice I'm not moving my mouth-"_

" _Then remember you have a flaming hand already! Magic's there to be used!"_

" _I just made her drop that Clawshot thing with it, what more do you want? I don't want to run out of power."_

" _I can see it now, your tombstone will read 'Link's dead now, but at least he had all of his magic left!' Besides, you can restore it by eating, or did you forget that too?"_

Link broke the blade lock and readjusted himself into a one-handed stance. Hartman's smirk widened as she said mockingly "Did that hurt your feelings? Boys at your age are so sensitive about these things, I mean, _really?_ " She punctuated her last word with an overhead cut that he blocked easily, and she drew in a breath to continue speaking during the resulting blade lock-

But her words died unsaid as he started to drive his right fist into her solar plexus. Her left forearm moved to a position horizontally across her stomach, attempting to protect her earlier wound from his attack. She evidently anticipated that they would end up in a third lock, and so she started saying "That's a low-" as his fist drew closer…

And then the punch burst into flames as it connected with her arm.

(Val roared, _"Volga!"_ , to which Link responded _"What the hell is a 'Volga'?!"_ )

The rest of her sentence became a scream of equal parts shock and pain as she instinctively jumped back-

Link's sword, freed from the blade lock, sliced downward from shoulder to hip.

Hartman, face frozen somewhere between a smirk and a scream, fell back and lost consciousness.

His better nature urged him to at least try to staunch the bleeding, but his rational side reminded him that she was an enemy combatant. Still, he wrapped her jacket around her a little more tightly before continuing.

He took mental inventory (heart total: two and a quarter; magic: just less than half) and picked up his discarded shield. There were two ruts where the claw had latched on and pulled, but it was still in remarkably good shape for the battering it had taken.

The Clawshot lay next to it on the ground, and he picked that up too. Val whooped _"You got the clawshot!"_

He experimented a little, discovering quickly that the top button set in the handle fired the claw. If he held the fire button while the claw was out, it would stay at the fixed distance, and the bottom two buttons extended and retracted the chain much more slowly.

" _Val, could this yank a Helmasaur's shell off?"_

" _Absolutely."_ He grinned and stashed the object on his belt for the time being.

Someone in one of the cells started clapping.

Link jumped, spinning to face the row of cells. He moved forward slowly, sword out, and he found the applauder in the second cell from the right.

Raynie grinned. "That was a great fight, whoever you are." Link stepped forward, and she gasped. "Link-how-you fell off a bridge!"

As Link unlocked the cell door, Val explained the situation, although she didn't mention the glove and instead claimed to be a fairy that liked hiding in Link's tunic. Raynie seemed to accept the story.

She stepped out of the cell and pulled Link into a tight hug, murmuring, "I thought I'd lost you, too...don't do stupid things like that, okay? Not like me saying this will make any difference." She inhaled deeply and exhaled quickly, and once she stepped back, her face was in its normal carefree state. "So what's the plan?"

Val started to summarize the current circumstances. "Ernest is being taken to the capital, but Link has to find the compass and the mask. Do you have any idea where either of those could be? Anything you heard from the guards, maybe?"

Raynie strode to the fallen Hartman to pick up her sword. "Compass...Link, wasn't that girl we were looking for wearing one?"

" _Girl?"_ Val queried, Link ran through the pertinent memories to bring her up to speed. She then projected, "That might explain why the Regent is looking for her."

Raynie snapped her fingers. "Then it's obvious what we should do. Link, you're the one with the grand mission, so you should investigate the fortress more and find whatever is being hidden in here, then head to Kakariko and see if you can find the girl. I'll follow the Sheikah to the capital, try to rescue Ernest, and see what I can do about the princess."

Mentally, he asked, sure there aren't any ulterior motives there, Raynie? But Link could see the logic of Raynie's suggestion, given the number of crises they needed to solve in such a short time.

"We should also make contact with the Postmen and send a message to HQ," Link relayed. Raynie nodded her assent, giving her new sword a couple of practice swings.

"It's well balanced, but I prefer spears. What'd they do with mine, do you think?"

Val piped up, "Let's try the door to the north. Link, the button to release the gates should be up near the other door."

The north door turned out to be a storeroom of confiscated items, including Raynie's spear, Ernest's sword, and, surprisingly, Ernest's trademark vermillion jacket.

Raynie picked it up at Link's gesture, looking pensive. Through Val, he said, "Somehow I don't think Ernest will be too mad if you wear it, as long as you give it to him afterwards."

She slid into it and found that her tall frame filled it out relatively well. Ernest's sword went to her belt, and her spear found its familiar resting place in her hands. "Vermillion spearwoman? Dragoon? Well, we'll see what they call me."

For his part, Link traded in his scorched, damaged shield for a less banged-up wooden one.

"Alright Link, how do you want to tackle this?"

Val said,"You should get a move on, Raynie. They've taken all the horses, so you'll need to walk or arrange some form of transportation, probably when you get to the Lake Hylia area. We climbed in through a window on the other side of this floor; we'll take you to it."

She nodded, then suddenly engulfed him in another rib-cracking hug.

"Remember our orders, Link? 'Don't die.' You're already on probation from that last scare, so be extra careful."

 _Same goes for you, partner._

Val didn't need to communicate that thought.

/_\

The changing of the guard had apparently completed by the time Link led Raynie to the trap-filled room he had entered the fortress from. After subjecting him to one more suffocating hug, she sprinted past the whizzing bolts and dived through the window to stick the landing on the sand below.

" _What's our next step, Val?"_

" _We've rescued Raynie and she's now heading to rescue Ernest, so we can shelve that. Our current priority is now to find the artifact stored here, probably in some kind of safe or vault. We should proceed on the assumption that we need to find both the location of the vault and a key to it."_

" _So we search the first floor, then."_

The hallway was still empty, and he made his way to the northern staircase, taking care to step quietly just in case. As he stepped into the first floor hallway, his map showed a hallway in the same shape as the second floor. Opening the full map showed that the hallway was again a square with various doors, but the main difference was that there were also doors that led into the inner courtyard. Save that one for last, then.

Ignoring the door across from him, he peeked around the corner and saw a guard on patrol in the eastern hallway. Luckily, his back was turned for now, but he was nearing at the opposite wall and Link couldn't tell if he would turn left or about-face. Link drew the Clawshot and rushed to the first door in that hallway, testing the knob. Locked.

" _I think the guard has the keys; look at his belt."_ Val's pointer highlighted a dull metal ring that Link could barely make out to hold several keys.

Link padded forward , reaching the second of four doors as he advanced. Not locked. A quick glance inside revealed a seemingly empty room, but any further analysis was halted by the guard beginning to turn. Link took aim, saying a silent prayer that it would work like he hoped it did…

And the guard yawned, turned, and disappeared around the corner without noticing Link in his periphery.

He let out a breath.

" _Don't get too complacent; they might have another one at the opposite end. Besides, you're going to need those keys at one point."_

Link entered the empty-looking room and heard a _click-_

-a pressure plate dropped a gate over the door once again.

They _definitely_ heard that; he needed to hurry.

Three Helmasaurs entered the room, noticed him in sequence, and prepared to charge.

" _Tornado Chaser! Do iiiiit~"_

Link hurdled the first, sidestepped the second, - _clink, clink-_ and leveled his clawshot at the third as it started its charge. The claw bit into the creature, held, and retracted, pulling the shell off of its body. Link tossed the shell to the side as the Helmasaur stopped, confused, and charged once again.

Instead of attacking the weakened Helmasaur, he turned towards the first and leapt over it once more. The second Helmasaur's shell was pulled off in short order, as behind him, one of the creatures screamed.

It seemed that Helmasaurs one and three had collided behind him, and the shelled monster won. The unarmored Helmasaur had been thrown into the wall, where it exploded into black mist.

Wait a minute...

Link looked down at the Clawshot, which was holding the second Helmasaur's shell. He plucked it off the claw, tested its weight-it was relatively heavy-and threw it at the charging Helmasaur.

The resulting black mist washed over his lower legs.

Link grinned.

The final Helmasaur lost its shell and was dispatched in short order, and the gate rose.

The guards were probably on their way, though… right on cue, Link heard footsteps approaching. _Sounds like...two? Farram it._

He looked around; the room had been stripped bare. Nowhere to hide…

" _Link, that lantern has a metal grate, so the Clawshot can latch onto it."_

He fired at the indicated lantern; it was on the left side of the door and thus he would be hidden from view from anyone who entered. The gadget yanked him to the lantern, but the jolt loosened his grip on the controls and he couldn't quite pull it off the grate quickly enough-

The door began to open.

Link cursed and let go of the Clawshot, dropping to a crouch on the floor and pulling out his sword as the first guard stepped into the room, carefully avoiding the pressure plate.

The guard advanced past the door, turning her head side to side-and Link stepped out from the woman's blind spot and stabbed once.

The guard dropped with a strangled cry, but the second set of footsteps continued, speeding up at the sound of the battle.

Link ran back to the lantern, jumping to finally pull the Clawshot back down, and then he sank into a crouch in the blind spot behind the door, gadget aimed at about chest height.

A shout of alarm told him when the other guard stepped into the doorframe and got a good look at his comrade's body.

One step, two steps-Link heard the man swallow-three steps-the guard's spear was sweeping the air as if to clear a dust cloud-four steps-he was past the door _-_

The claw leapt forward, latching onto the Sheikah's armor, and Link reeled him in at top speed before stopping his movement with a flame-infused gut punch ( _"Volga!"_ ). He crumpled, and Link obtained the keys from both guards' belts.

If they weren't suspicious before, they definitely were now.

He closed the door on the two guards before returning to the locked door from earlier. The third key on the ring opened it into another administrator's room, although this one was far less disorganized than the one on the second floor.

Link's gaze was drawn to the sealed chest next to the empty desk, and key number two laid its contents bare: a single sheet of paper. It read:

 _As per the new regulations, knowledge of how to open the vault in this Gerudo Fortress must be disseminated ONLY to those with clearance level 2 (Sage) or higher. Unauthorized disclosure will be punished to the full extent of Sheikah military law._

 _On the vault door, there are 10 small buttons arranged in 3 rows of 3 and a fourth row containing a single button that is centered horizontally. Mentally number these from 9 in the upper right to 1 in the lower left, proceeding from right to left, top to bottom. Be advised that physically writing these numbers, or in fact markings of any kind, on the vault door will be considered unauthorized disclosure of clearance level 2 (Sage) information and will be punished accordingly._

 _To enter the vault, insert the key in its place, and then press these buttons in sequence:_ _8, 8, 2, 2, 4, 6, 4, 6, 6, 2, 3, 2, 3, 6, 9, 5, 0_

" _Val, do you have all that?"_

" _Yep! You'd think they'd use a less well-known code for their high-security vaults, though…"_

" _Well-known? I have no idea what it means…"_

" _Well, among certain groups, the first part of this sequence is kinda famous-it shows up everywhere! Anyway, looks like we need to find a key too. Let's go to the other rooms on this floor."_

Link closed the chest and continued down the hall. Doors three and four opened into an empty mess hall, so he skipped those. The northern hallway had two doors, one to the courtyard and another directly across. The outer door was unlocked by key number one, and he stepped inside to see another trap-filled room.

This one looked straight out of a circus tent: blades everywhere waiting to be triggered at the touch of a pressure plate, gigantic axes attached to the ceiling, ready to drop, and various obstacles that were all on fire.

Val burst into giggles.

The obstacle course was centered around a small cylindrical object in the center of the room, hanging from the ceiling by an invisible wire. He had an unobstructed line of sight on the thing, but devising the least dangerous route through the traps would be difficult if not impossible, especially considering that he could not afford any mistakes.

" _Link, you'd better not be thinking what I think you're thinking."_

" _This just seems too easy…"_

" _Easy?! Oh, okay, you get it too. Cutting the Labrynnan Knot and all that."_

Link aimed the Clawshot at the item, jerking slightly when three spinning yellow triangles appeared in the center of his vision.

" _Just helping you aim, don't mind me."_

He centered the triangles around the object - the triangles turned red - and fired. The claw latched onto the object and pulled, jolting slightly as it broke the thin wire keeping the thing in place. Its passenger secured, the claw merrily dashed past the rolling blades and through the flaming hoops. As it passed, the traps fell silent.

Finally, the object landed in his hand. Now that he had it, he noticed the grooves and protrusions on its surface that marked it as a large, oddly-shaped key.

" _Oh yeah, this looks like a Big Key to me."_ Val said; her ability to capitalize spoken words was as baffling as ever. In the corner of his eye, a large, ornate picture of a key appeared above his map before disappearing in response to his mental head-shake.

" _Now we need to find the vault itself, put the key in, and enter this famous code of yours."_

After a brief check of the western hallway, whose only door led to the front gates, Link returned to the northern entrance into the central courtyard, which opened with the final key.

Stone tiles covered the sand, making the would-be treacherous terrain much more stable. Unfortunately, during the daytime, the burnished stone would reflect the sunlight, making an already hot location almost unbearable, especially when training. Link shuddered, gaining a newfound appreciation for the Lost Woods and its more temperate climate, even if it tended to rain rather frequently.

As the fortress was mostly deserted, the training dummies, targets, and the like were stacked against the walls, leaving a large open space in the center, which Link approached. Dirt streaks and smudges lined the ground, relics of the activity that had taken place here previously. Some of the tracks were interrupted when they crossed certain tile boundaries, and at that mark Link dropped to his knees and started prying up tiles.

He was rewarded with an 8-foot stone square on the ground, with 10 holes arranged just as the instructions said and one bigger hole under it that was the exact size of the "big key".

He slotted the cylinder into the lowest hole, twisting it slowly until it locked in place, which caused the 10 smaller buttons to pop out of their recesses.

8, 8, 2, 2…9, 5, 0.

Upon the last button press, machinery started rumbling, and Link stepped back as the square slid up and out of sight to reveal a staircase that led down into darkness. Cool, musty air wafted up into his face.

" _Here we go, Val. Any other useful information?"_

" _On the documents I saw, all I know is that whoever's guarding this vault has the rank of commander. This isn't going to be easy."_

" _Well, I do want to have a little fun today."_

Breathe in, breathe out. Status check (Heart total: two and a quarter, whatever that means. Magic total: about one-third remaining.). Take inventory (Hawkeye: probably useless, secure it. Clawshot: keep within easy reach. Sword and shield: ready.).

And he stepped down into the darkness, not stopping as the stone portal closed him off from the world aboveground.

/_\

The vault was a spacious room, and its relative emptiness added to the effect. The lanterns flared to life as he stepped off the last stair, creating flickering shadows on the bare stone walls and illuminating the ceramic pots that were placed under them.. The longest shadows were cast by two things at the end of the room: an altar that bore a small box and a figure that looked vaguely like a sitting human attached to a long, curved pole.

Link took careful, measured steps, sword and shield at the ready, testing each new stone for a Tile Worm or pressure plate.

"There aren't any traps in here."

He whipped his head up towards the humanoid figure, who slowly brought himself up into a standing position as he finished his statement.

"I'm all the security this vault needs." The person held one end of the curved pole in his right hand while using the other to attach it to his belt.

Not a pole. A _katana_. The weapon was easily longer than any he'd ever seen, and the ease with which the person handled it spoke to his evident skill.

The man sauntered forward at a slow pace, allowing Link to get a better view of his adversary's features: windswept blonde hair, strong build, and a rugged face covered with scars.

"I knew it was a bad idea to loosen security this much, even with the coronation coming up soon. Everyone leaves, and we get knocked over by a kid!" The man's wolfish smirk belied his irritated words. "Although if you were able to defeat Hartman, you're not just any kid, are you?"

Link remained silent as the man moved forward, stepping back to stay out of the katana's massive range. Even though it was sheathed, Link knew of a style of katana usage that relied on drawing, striking, and resheathing in one smooth, lightning-fast motion.

The man's smirk grew. "The best way to get stronger is to fight skilled warriors, right? Looks like you're going to give me a _lot_ of experience." He stopped so that the two of them were in the approximate center of the room and settled into a slightly lower ready stance. "What's your name, kid?"

At Link's mental nod, Val projected "Link Yuuki, Corporal."

A raised eyebrow was the only reaction to Link's unfitting "voice". "Corporal? Heh, join the Sheikah and I'm sure you'll be promoted in no time, with your skills."

Link shook his head.

"Shame." That smirk again. "In that case, I'm…"

 **-Sheikah Blade Commander-**

 **Boyd Trias**

 **"Killer Queen"**

The warrior's declaration stunned Link slightly; how many people was he going to meet today who could declare themselves with such force?

"Queen?" queried Val; evidently she was less perturbed.

"You're one to talk," he said good-naturedly. "It's the division I was in back home. My sisters were in the King and Joker divisions. Maybe you'll fight them, if you survive _this!_ "

And Boyd stepped forward into striking range, using the momentum of both his movement and his drawing motion to send the blade at Link's throat.

His shield barely came up in time to block the swift stab. Wood splinters showered down on to the ground in front of him as Boyd's blade wrenched itself free from the shield and curved around for another strike. Link deflected the blow with a flick of his sword, and immediately realized that that was a mistake as Boyd's immense strength, even at that range, jarred his arm so badly that his sword clattered to the ground.

Panic entered his features, but he kept calm, realizing that Boyd would expect him to go for his fallen weapon. He stepped forward, Boyd's katana flashed, and he hopped to the right, narrowly avoiding the expected stab. Without pause, he threw himself into a roll to the left, raising his shield and scrabbling for his sword- _thock_ -

The katana was once again locked in Link's shield, and with sword back in hand he took the opportunity to analyze.

Link's effective range was much shorter than Boyd's, but at such short range he'd be incredibly effective. Thus his first priority must be to close in as fast as possible.

" _Val, information?"_

" _Searching…"_

Boyd pulled away to strike once again. Link deflected the overhead cut, and the katana came back for a horizontal cut from his left. Instead of blocking, however, Link rolled forward under the sweeping blade, bringing his own around in its wake. He scored a glancing strike across Boyd's stomach, scratching his leather armor as the man jumped back and reset their positions.

That smirk - which was getting more and more infuriating by the _second_ \- appeared again. "First blood. Yeah, I really have to take you seriously, don't I…" His voice deepened, and Link's right hand tingled at the man's next words. " _Flurried, dancing flames/The goddess of Might's domain/Envelop my blade!_ "

And his sword burst into flames.

Not very eager to test the durability of his new - but still very wooden - shield, he stowed it, replacing his right hand's grip on the Clawshot on his belt.

" _Hey Val, can you do that to my sword?"_

" _No, it only works if the sword is specially-made; otherwise it destroys the structural integrity of the weapon. If you want to block him with my gloves, remember that they don't protect your hands from blades, but they do prevent your hands from burning. Finally, the information on this guy is a line from the ancient Labrynnan song 'Rixam'. It goes, 'Patriam Servavit, Terror Omnibus'."_

" _Meaning?"_

"' _He saved his homeland, but everyone fears him.'"_

As if summoned by that ominous phrase, the line of flame that marked Boyd's sword leapt towards him. Link's left hand twitched, itching to bring his sword up to block, but he forced down that urge, remembering how he'd dropped his sword in their first exchange. Instead, he hopped to the side and looked for openings in their frenetic dance. Duck, sway, step forward - Boyd stepped back - duck again, all the time attempting to maneuver forward while withstanding the dry heat of Boyd's sword.

His chance came as the line of flame came down in an overhead chop. Link stepped to the right while bringing his right hand across to the left in an open-palmed slap. Val was right; his hands were unaffected by the heat.

Still hurt, though.

The sword was knocked off-course, and its wielder with it, while Link followed the motion through into a backhanded spin that threatened to take Boyd's head off-

Boyd pulled his left hand away from his sword's hilt and used it to block the strike. His face contorted in pain for the first time this fight as Link's sword carved into his forearm, but the grimace morphed back into the predatory smirk soon enough.

Link jumped back, snapping his wrist to flick the blood off his sword and settling into a cautious stance, but Boyd simply sheathed his still-flaming blade.

"Fell for it."

Link recalled, once again, the existence of a katana style involving drawing and striking at speed-

He started to push off his front foot, leaning back in preparation for a jump, but it was already too late.

Boyd's flaming sword snaked out, stabbing forward, and a searing pain erupted in Link's chest as the blade sheared through Link's tunic. The tip, bolstered by otherworldly flame, sliced through a few of the mail rings over his chest and left a shallow wound that marked his heart's location.

Link's jump turned into a flailing backwards dive as his body involuntarily reacted to the burn. His body touched down back-first, and his right hand scrabbled at his chest, but it came away clean-the sword had cauterized as it cut.

One and a quarter hearts left.

Boyd took two strides forward and jumped, pointing his sword down to drive it into Link's chest, but he rolled to the left, right hand coming back down to his waist. As Boyd landed, he swept his sword towards Link's unprotected side, but Link had retrieved the Clawshot from his belt and a snap shot pulled him to one of the lanterns lining the walls.

He let go of the gadget before slamming into the wall full-speed and ungracefully rolled into one of the ceramic pots, which held, although his forceful impact caused some kind of viscous liquid to slosh around inside it.

Boyd, luckily, had stayed in the same spot. "Man, that's usually a sure kill. You're the...fifth person to not immediately die to that, I think? Ossie calls these 'Shear Heart Attacks' because it just cuts to your heart and you drop."

Why was every Sheikah officer so chatty during fights?

Link began to struggle to his feet using the pot as an anchor. Luckily, he'd kept his grip on his sword. The Clawshot, still hanging from the lantern, provided a useful if unstable handle to aid his recovery as the man kept talking.

"And like a real heart attack, if you get hit by one, it's possible to survive. Two, though? Good luck."

" _While he's distracted, reach into that pot. It's a potion of some kind, judging from the sound it made."_

Boyd swept his sword in slow, expansive arcs, making a show of his sheathing technique, but the flames on his blade died mid-swing.

"Whoops. Won't be a moment, kid."

As Boyd chanted his incantation again, Link surreptitiously dipped his hand into the pot. It came out covered in a sticky red fluid.

" _How lucky! That's red potion! Eat it!"_

Link's pain-suffused mind brought up memories of the caretakers at his orphanage warning their charges about the dangers of accepting strange substances, but Boyd's sword flared to life once again and he jammed his fingers in his mouth.

Immediately, the pain in all parts of his body began to subside, from the random aches and pains he'd accrued while fighting the Helmasaurs to the burning stab wound he'd just sustained. His chest itched fiercely as the skin knitted itself together, and then he felt much like he had after the fairy had healed him at Lanayru's spring: refreshed and full of energy. The amount of magic he had left stayed the same, unfortunately.

His heart total jumped up to three as Boyd completed his flourish and sheathed his flaming sword. Link was suddenly thankful for his opponent's theatricality.

Round 2.

He's would draw and instantly stab. To dodge it, Link had to move in any direction that's not straight forward or back.

Boyd's hand tightened on his sword's hilt.

But doing so would leave Link unable to counterattack. He disengaged the Clawshot from the lantern, shifting position to keep it hidden from the man with his profile.

Boyd began to draw -

Link rolled forward and to the left. It was a dangerous option, bringing him across the line of Boyd's attack, but it would allow him the best aim -

The flames snaked through the air, half a second too slow -

And Link came up, Clawshot ready. The claw closed the distance, leaping under Boyd's outstretched arm to grasp the man's chest and pull the unbalanced warrior to Link's waiting sword.

The tip punched through Boyd's stomach, inflicting a stab wound that would have mirrored Link's if it had been a bit higher.

Boyd looked down in disbelief, pressing his already bloody left arm to the wound before toppling over, releasing the now extinguished sword from slackening fingers.

Link flicked the blood from his blade with a series of flourishes, ending the sequence by sheathing his blade before pressing his left hand to his heart in an informal salute. He turned and started towards the altar.

"Can't believe...I have to use this…!"

As Link whirled, sword and shield once again at the ready, he saw that Boyd hadn't been trying to staunch his wound. He'd been retrieving something - a red, heart-shaped jewel that he closed his fingers around. Despite the fact that his weakening fingers would probably not be able to exert enough pressure to crack a Cucco egg, much less a jewel, the heart still appeared to vanish into his palm and a torrent of red sparks danced around Boyd's still form. In the blink of an eye, they vanished, and there Boyd stood, looking good as new.

" _That's a...a heart container! I thought those were a myth!"_ The man began speaking before Link could ask for clarification.

"You're not the only one who can heal up, kid - _Link_. Although I definitely didn't want to have to use a gift from the Lady herself, I think you've earned it."

Link's only reply was to sink into a low ready stance.

Boyd idly brushed some blood off of his shirt before crouching to pick up his discarded sword -

And Link charged, intending to use the distraction to his full advantage. The Killer Queen was ready, however, sweeping his hand over the ground to grab the katana and using the spin to simultaneously deflect Link's strike and counter with a swipe of his own.

Thus their deadly dance began again. Link was in close this time, so Boyd had neither the space to use his quickdraw attacks nor the leverage to bring his monstrous strength to bear effectively. At close quarters, the protection provided by Link's shield proved more valuable than the power provided by Boyd's two-handed grip, and this began to show as Link scored several cuts along his opponent's torso while only receiving nicks on his shield in return.

Link had finally reached his optimal range; this battle was his - as long as Boyd didn't retreat and start stabbing at his heart again.

As if responding to that thought, Boyd blocked a strike with his blade, then took his right hand off the hilt and shoved Link in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. As the boy regained his footing, Boyd leapt back, opening his mouth to begin an incantation -

And leapt aside, narrowly avoiding the Clawshot, which _clanged_ into the wall behind him before retracting. As the claw reeled itself in, Link charged once more.

Giving him a chance to breathe would be a big mistake.

The Clawshot replaced on his belt, Link continued his onslaught, but his blows came to a pause as Boyd maneuvered their blades into a lock, then pressed his body to Link's, trapping the blades between them.

Blue eyes stared into green, and Boyd began to speak.

" _Roaring, rushing winds!"_

Val seemed to recognize what was happening instantly. _"Link, stop him!"_

Eyes wide, the boy attempted to free his blade, but Boyd matched his movements, leaving them in the same position -

" _Domain of valor's goddess/ Break human limits!"_

The world spun.

Link regained his footing, realizing as he did that in fact a small _tornado_ had whipped itself up around Boyd, and if he squinted, he could almost make out trails of air surrounding him, giving him a dull green aura.

The Killer Queen raised the hilt of that long katana above its shoulder, angling the blade so it pointed directly at Link.

" _Val?"_

" _Looks like a haste-type spell. He's probably going to be really fast, so keep your shield up and don't try to counterattack immediately-"_

Before she could analyze further, Boyd roared, and brought the sword down.

Link put his shield up and braced -

The katana sliced downwards at inhuman speed, trying to open Link up from left shoulder to right hip -

No, wait, the katana was about to bisect Link at the waist -

But now he saw the katana shear from his left side to his right, upwards this time -

Three swords swinging three times scored three strikes straight through the shield at the _same time -_

And six pieces of wood dropped to the ground.

His mind screamed _What just-?!_

Val broke the shocked silence. _"Well, that was definitely really fast. You don't want to get hit by any of those, obviously."_

" _That's a lot easier said than done…"_

In the face of his goggle-eyed stare, Boyd brought the sword up again. In response, Link shook off the now-useless straps that had held his shield and replaced them with the Clawshot, although what he'd do with it he had no idea -

Time slowed and his mind raced.

Three attacks, extremely fast and strong, directed in such a way that no matter which way he dodged, he'd get clipped by at least one.

Once again, the sword came down from left to right, shoulder to hip.

But they struck at the _same time_ , so even though visually they came in sequence, he had until the third strike to act - but what could he do?

The second horizontal blow, once again.

If all three strikes flew true, he'd be unable to dodge. But if one of them _didn't_ …

Boyd brought the sword down to begin the third strike -

That would make an opening.

The Clawshot fired, a snap-shot unaided by Val's aim, as Boyd started to raise the sword.

Link dived.

Three swords swinging three times scored three strikes -

But one of them had been knocked off course by a flying claw, and Link made it through the gap that had been created as a result.

And he dropped the Clawshot, using the energy from his coiled body to augment a flame-infused uppercut. The wind whipping around Boyd worked to his advantage, feeding the small flame around his fist until it became much, much larger.

" _Volvagia!"_ Val whooped.

Blunt force superheated trauma to the chin lifted the Killer Queen off the ground before sending him smashing back down into it. This time, he didn't move.

A red jewel bounced free from Boyd's jacket and clattered to the ground. Link picked it up.

" _He had_ two _of these?! Well, Link, what do you say you exercise the kleptomania a bit more?"_

" _I'm not a klepo-whatever."_ Nevertheless, he crushed the jewel like Boyd had earlier, and once again, his aches and pains dissolved, leaving him refreshed and energized. The only reminders of the fight he had endured were the splintered remains of his shield, the hole in his armor, and an extra heart in the upper-left hand corner of his vision that pulsated slightly off-beat before settling into a rhythm that, he now noticed, matched his heartbeat.

Heart container.

Link turned to the altar, upon which rested a small box marked with the symbol of the Royal Family. He opened it to reveal a blue ocarina emblazoned with the Triforce insignia.

The Ocarina of Time.

With careful fingers, he lifted it from the padding it rested on, tucking it almost reverently into his tunic.

And now to Kakariko Village.

The altar's underside held a button that when pressed opened a hidden passage in the wall to reveal a long stone hallway. After walking for a couple minutes, he came to a ladder, through which he could see a couple of stars.

As he climbed, Val hummed a tune; apparently the heart container had had a similar effect as the fairy rejuvenation earlier, judging by the lyrics. What other reason would she have had to sing about eating tree frogs…?


	7. 6: Queen's Gambit (I)

Author's Note: So I said it'd be a couple weeks, and it turned out to be *checks notes* three months. Oh dear. Hope this makes up for it?

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Queen's Gambit**

 _(I._Opening)_

-Lake Hylia-

Link retraced his steps from the Gerudo Fortress to Lake Hylia, once again refilling his stores of food and water at the Postmen's rest stops. The road out of the desert was as empty as it had been when he'd been heading for the fortress, and because of that he could identify Raynie's tracks.

Once he reached the bottom of the scaffolding, however, their paths diverged. Raynie had headed to the north, where her footprints mixed in with the normal traffic that the Bridge of Hylia boasted normally.

On the other hand, Link would travel across the Great Bridge of Hylia for the third time in as many days, cut through Faron Province to the south, and finally reach Kakariko Village in the eastern, Eldin Province. This time, he didn't have a horse, so the distance that he, Ernest, and Raynie had traveled in a few days could take him a week or more.

" _Good thing we have two months."_ he remarked. His initial discomfort with the new voice in his head had mostly dissipated; storming a fortress had turned out to be a great team-building exercise.

" _Only if the Regent procrastinates. We should definitely prioritize finding a faster mode of transportation…"_

" _Hopefully, we'll be able to buy a horse at Kakariko."_

" _You're gonna need more than a few rupees pilfered from an empty fortress for that."_

Link groaned.

Traversing the Great Bridge was a much more difficult task this time around, given the large number of travellers there were. Merchants carrying goods from Faron made up the bulk of northbound traffic, making their way to the Gerudo Valley via the cargo elevator with a goal of trading with cities such as Madinat Dina and Al-Nabooru. Southbound traffic was mostly comprised of carriages adorned with the distinctive shimmery fabric of the Zora. Gaudy Castle Town carriages were fairly rare, as they would usually approach the cargo elevator from the north and avoid the bridge entirely.

As for pedestrians, the mass of blues and browns that crossed the bridge would occasionally be livened up by the red clothing that marked its wearer as a mail-carrier, but traffic would open, the Postman or Postwoman would pass through, and the crowd would dull once more.

Link blended into the throng, looking for all purposes like a run-of-the-mill mercenary, which caused others to avoid eye contact. That suited him just fine, as he could continue his mental conversation without drawing undue attention.

As he passed a scorch mark near the center of the bridge, he paused slightly, but before he could put words to his thoughts, the press of people forced him to move on.

/_\

-Hyrule Castle-

A woman dressed in servant's garb knocked at the plain wooden door.

"Milady? You were not present at breakfast, would you like me to bring you a meal?"

"No, I'm-" a voice snapped from inside, before stopping. The servant heard an intake of breath, and then- "Pardon my rudeness. I do not need meals delivered to my room if I miss them; I am perfectly capable of seeing to my own needs. Further, please inform your colleagues that they are not to enter this room without permission. Is that clear?"

"Yes, milady. I also bring a message from the Lord Regent. He requests your presence at tonight's meeting regarding arrangements for the coronation. Goddesses keep you."

"Thank you; that will be all." At the curt dismissal, the servant walked away, thus missing the next words of its inhabitant.

"Goddesses keep me, eh? Let them." The blessing of the servant left the occupant's mouth as a curse, a challenge. The dark tone of her words matched the darkness of the room, which was rather spacious. A solitary candle near the center provided nowhere near enough light to see anything other than the objects on the table next to it: a bowl of water, parchment, and a quill.

The woman locked the door before carefully making her way from the door to the central table, weaving around stacks of books and parchment in the dim light without once even touching her papers . She smoothly lifted one book from the top of a pile as she passed before finally taking a seat at the solitary table, glancing at the bowl as one would look at a letter that contained unpleasant news.

The water rippled slightly in response to her movement, but was otherwise inscrutable.

With a grimace, she settled in and turned to the book. The Insect Kingdom was hardly light reading, with its esoteric subject matter and the whimsical style of the author, who was only known as A. Mushihime. Regardless, she devoured the pages voraciously, taking notes sporadically in neat, flowing script.

 _Conflicting reports. This one looks genuine. 'Invitation deliverer' is most likely subject._

Her reading was interrupted when the water began to bubble, as if it had been placed atop a hot stove. The woman sat up ramrod straight upon noticing, but with a forced patience, she set the book down and shifted her notes to the side. She moved the bowl carefully until it was right in front of her before placing her right hand, palm-down, above the surface.

A whisper: _"Be still, make contact!"_

And the water calmed, glowing with a pale blue light.

The candle went out.

Another whisper: _"Be still, let me hear!"_

A person spoke. "My lady?" The speaker was in pain; that much was evident. His form came into view, hunched over..

The lady replied as if she were face-to-face with the speaker. "I've told you that you may use my name-" She took a sharp breath as she registered his condition. "What's happened, Vire?"

Through gritted teeth, Vire said, "Most of the Sheikah posted to the fortress were recalled a week ago, as you know. Yesterday morning, they left. Yesterday evening...we were attacked."

"Attacked? Who would dare?"

His voice filled with even more tension and apprehension."I don't...I don't know, ma'am. One of my traps went off, and when Ghini and me went to investigate, we were ambushed. She's dead - sword to the gut. I got punched in the stomach with a fireball. I think. My stomach looks like a bomb blasted it, but I got off easy, by the look of things."

"...what do you mean?"

"The officer on prison duty, Hartman, lost a lot of blood. The Labrynnan sellsword's vanished, but there were signs of a fight - scorch marks and a bunch more blood. And...the vault…" He stopped, trepidation briefly overriding pain as the dominant emotion on his face. Hard to blame him, really; the Regent was notorious among the Sheikah for not taking bad news well. A low-ranking agent, even one with the abilities of Vire, would be lucky to get off with a flogging for this kind of report.

For all his bluster about the "noble blood flowing through his veins", the Lord Regent liked to throw tantrums.

"I'm not the Regent. Whatever you have to say, you can rest assured that you will not be punished merely for telling me."

Vire took a breath. "The vault…" Another shuddering breath.

" _Tell me_ , Vire." He could sense the fury behind her words, but he took a final breath and bit the bolt.

"The attacker took the Clawshot and the Ocarina, ma'am."

The woman leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes, her face a mask of calm belied by slight, sharp twitches.

"Thank you for telling me, Vire. Bad news is regrettable, but not having information is worse."

"Ma'am?" His tense form relaxed slightly as a note of hope entered his voice. At this point, the Regent would already be yelling...

"I'm not the Regent, Vire. Please return to the capital at your earliest convenience. Bring Ghini."

"But how are they going to control the Helmasaurs without me? And Ghini's…"

"With the Ocarina gone and the prisoners transferred, the Fortress loses strategic importance. As for Ghini...her gift may yet be useful, as will yours once you arrive."

"Understood, my lady." The relief in his voice and posture was palpable.

"I told you, Vire, you may use my name."

"Yes, ma'am - sorry. I will return to the capital once I am healed...Veran."

The water stilled, and Veran with it, until her rage boiled over and could not be contained merely by sitting. It did not affect her ability to effortlessly avoid the stacks of literature that were strewn about, though; her focus was on the whirling maelstrom of thoughts in her head, some of which were escaping in the form of hurried mutters.

"Keijo, you paranoid, selfish..." Such was her rage that she was unable to think of any other words to describe the Regent, and so she settled on the rather repetitive "...foolish fool!"

Three items are all she needed; they have one. Had, now. He was well within his rights to recall the Sheikah, but why leave the Ocarina unguarded?! All this… "all this work, this sacrifice, set back again, and not even by the goddesses this time!"

Setbacks. That's all it was, a setback. His Majesty had to wait 7 years to first obtain the Triforce, and then a few centuries more to reclaim it. It had been decades for Veran, at least for a certain definition of "decade".

She could wait.

"But what happens when the princess takes power? I lose the pawn I spent years cultivating and bringing to the throne with nothing to show for it…"

Nothing? The Ocarina was lost for now, but the Compass appeared, and with it the Triforce of Courage. The situation was not unsalvageable.

"Besides, I was always playing the long game."

Having concluded her conversation with herself, she sat back at the table and snapped her fingers. With a whoosh, the solitary candle blazed back to life, and by its flickering flame she began to write.

 _Shift in priorities. The Ocarina can wait._

 _Of some importance: Find who took the Ocarina._

 _First priority:_ _Obtain the Compass._

After a pause, she underlined the last line thrice, and then pulled out a blank sheet of parchment.

This paper, unlike her usual note pages, was to be a letter.

A short time later, she blew on the ink to dry it, folded the parchment, and sealed it with some wax from the candle. She snapped her fingers, traced a design in the air, and the wax gained the imprint of a stylized 'V'. Then she flipped it over and wrote the name of the intended recipient - Onox - and flicked the letter at the bowl of water that was currently off to the side.

" _Deliver to thee."_

The letter sank beneath the water's still surface and vanished.

/_\

-Hyrule Castle, Royal Chambers-

It was nearly time for the meeting with the Lord Regent. The Oracle of Ages and her retinue would arrive the next night, and the Labrynnan royal procession the day after _that_ , so the preparations needed to be checked and double-checked to avoid an international incident. Since the two parties would be attending her own coronation, soon-to-be Queen Zelda was of course expected to attend.

She didn't much feel up to it, though; she knew it would be _boring as all hell._

There were no big decisions coming up, just logistical issues and diplomatic briefings. Even if there were, her input would be listened to then summarily dismissed, given that she had no actual power. Odds are that she wouldn't even learn anything new, either - coronation preparations weren't exactly fraught topics.

All in all, it would probably be a monumental waste of time. Even so, she had to be there, and there was a low chance that it might not be a _complete_ waste, and she needed all the help - and goodwill - that she could get.

Her decade spent in the nebulous state of being a powerless princess was coming to an end, and she was well aware that the Regent was eyeing the clock. With about two months left, the Regent had already consolidated his base, and Zelda had spent the last two years studying and formulating a plan to counter him. She had the obvious handicap of being a teenage girl who had just been getting her feet wet, but the stakes were too high for her not to try at all.

She was only now starting to make her first moves, right when the Regent was working on some shadowy plan of his own. And those weird dreams weren't helping…

All of her instincts told her that events would come to a head soon, and she vowed to be ready when it did.

Boring, tedious meetings or not.

-NE Conference Room-

The conference room was relatively small, with the bulk of its space filled by a rectangular table of genuine Kokiri ash. Sixteen matching chairs were arranged around it such that 2 were side-by-side at the head of the table with the other 7 pairs facing each other along the sides.

When Zelda entered, the 14 members of the Advisory Council stood, heads bowed, as a guard announced her arrival. She took the right-hand seat at the head of the table, and once she was seated, the nobles followed suit.

The Lord Regent, of course, was at her side, with two more unoccupied seats behind him, while the pairs of seats facing each other represented the two heads of each department. Closest to the head were the pair who represented State, then Justice, Law, Military, Treasury, Commerce, and finally Foreign Affairs. Following the Principle of Triads, major decisions were made in each department with the input of three people: the Minister of the department, the Secretary of the department, and the Lord Regent.

For Zelda's purposes, this meant that if she could swing just one head of each department, she could push through the changes she wanted to make while only giving up minimal concessions. She was getting a bit ahead of herself, however; currently she only enjoyed the support of the Treasury Secretary, and only in secret.

This particular meeting, however, only concerned the two Labrynnan delegations that were to arrive, and so Zelda prepared for a rather boring meeting that would have few ramifications on her wider plans. She hoped.

Lord Hekien, Foreign Minister, rose and began speaking.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness, Lord Regent, and my colleagues of the Advisory Council. As you all know, the first of two Labrynnan delegations shall arrive tonight, with the second following tomorrow afternoon. Today, we shall receive the Oracle of Ages. Tomorrow, the retinue of King Anders Lynna will arrive. Labrynna, being one of our sister nations, has many customs that are similar to ours, and so there is little worry that an...incident…should occur." At this, his gaze swept over the table. A few of the Advisors looked at the Military Affairs Secretary as if expecting her to comment, but she kept a firm gaze on Hekien, who sighed. "In any case, there is one thing that I think is necessary to review with regards to Labrynna: the, shall I say, separation between church and state.

"Unlike our fair kingdom, whose monarchs share the blood of the goddess, Labrynna's royal line is explicitly independent of the will of either the Triad or whichever other lesser gods they pray to. However, the majority religion revolves around the worship of the goddess Mara, whom we know as Nayru. The goddess picks a young woman, seemingly at random, to be the Oracle of Ages whenever the previous Oracle dies. Since any ruler would obviously love to get their hands on the power the oracle possesses, the decision was made long ago to separate the Oracle, and by extension the Church of Mara, from royal influence. Thus, the Oracle is protected by a band of mercenaries known as 'Outrealm'. King Lynna maintains his own Royal Guard, of course."

Lady Mashuson, Secretary of State, interrupted. "That is all well and good, Hekien, but does this history lesson have a _point_?" Across from him, Lord Musuko stifled a yawn.

An affronted look passed across Hekien's face, but he smoothed it out and said, "The _point_ , as my colleague puts it, is this: Do not ask the King his opinion of the Oracle. Do not ask the Oracle to discuss her opinion of King Lynna. If you are talking to one of them and the topic of conversation changes to anything of a political nature that concerns the other, change the subject. At best, you'll be thought a fool, which reflects badly upon us. At worst, you'll be accused of attempting to meddle in the affairs of a sovereign nation and/or church. They take appearances of propriety _extremely_ seriously when it comes to the Oracle."

"And if we screw it up, say goodbye to favorable negotiations for a couple centuries…" muttered the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Hekien pretended not to notice.

Zelda, hiding her amusement behind her normal impassive mask, added a personal corollary: If something big happens, make sure to go to _both_ King Lynna and the Oracle, preferably at the same time.

Impa always said that preparing for the worst meant that one could be only pleasantly surprised.

Following Hekien's "history lesson", the next item on the agenda was presented by the Treasury Secretary, Alexander Bergstadt: a breakdown of the costs of the coronation. This was followed by an argument between him and his co-department head and rival, Erina Iga, over how best to raise funds. Specifically, whether or not an increase in taxes of a half of a percent would increase or decrease revenue. At least that's what Zelda made of it; she could follow most of the discussion but as the argument spiraled out of control (as arguments between Bergstadt and Iga tended to) they started using more and more complicated terms. Several of the advisors shot looks at the Regent, expecting him to head off the confrontation, but he was uncharacteristically silent.

When the first insult was thrown (this time it was Bergstadt saying Iga's brain was off 'flying with the Rocs', whatever that meant) the Regent finally brought them to order. Shame, really; Bergstadt's tongue-lashing skills were legendary, and a full-blown argument would have livened up the dour proceedings.

The rest of the meeting consisted of more logistical considerations and other minutia involved with running a country and organizing a coronation. Finally, the Regent dismissed the Advisory Council, who got up, bowed to the Regent and the princess, and dispersed. Zelda caught Alexander Bergstadt's eye as he exited, receiving a nod in return.

She turned to exchange pleasantries with the Regent, reaffirming as she did so the air of nervousness around him. Was that why he'd waited so long to moderate the argument earlier…?

But she had other matters to tend to, so she took her leave.

-Castle Halls-

As Zelda made her way to her next destination, most of the people she passed bowed their heads and pointed their gazes downward in deference as they came close.

The sole exception was a woman in a simple black dress, who bowed her head but kept Zelda's gaze with her piercing red eyes.

In the meeting room, the Lord Regent had had two unoccupied seats behind him. One was reserved for the head of the Sheikah Squad, who was currently away from the castle. This woman usually sat in the other chair, writing the meeting's minutes.

Zelda began, "Veran, tonight's meeting concluded five minutes ago. Lord Keijo is going to be rather angry with you, I fear."

The other woman giggled. "My dear cousin hasn't mellowed out any, even after 10 years of being the Lord Regent. I know how to deal with him. Besides, I was cleaning up one of his messes."

Zelda smiled blandly. "Good luck with him, then. May the Goddesses keep you." Her keen eyes noted the strained quality of Veran's smile that always showed whenever someone uttered the traditional farewell in her presence.

The two women continued on their way, Zelda thinking and Veran muttering under her breath. When the distance between them had opened to a few feet, Veran looked back, but the princess had vanished.

/_\

-NE Conference Room-

Veran swept into the meeting room where Keijo was waiting in front of two plates. The servants were still in the process of delivering supper as she sat down, and Keijo visibly restrained himself until the door had shut behind the departing servants before starting to speak.

"Where were you, Veran?"

"Good evening to you too, Noboru." Her casual use of his first name only annoyed him further, but she continued, ignoring her food for the moment. "If you must know, I was trying to figure out how to salvage the rather precarious situation that _you_ have put us in."

" _What_ situation?" he asked, temper giving way to guarded curiosity for the moment.

Veran declined to answer, pointedly turning to the fish and potatoes on her plate - an unusual diet for Hylians. Keijo began to eat his own steak after a few moments, only for his head to snap back up when she asked "Why, pray tell, did you see fit to recall the Sheikah to the palace?"

He swallowed, turning a baleful glare on the woman. "With the coronation coming up, I deemed it necessary to increase security in the castle and the town."

"Which led to _decreased_ security in places such as, say, the Gerudo Fortress."

Keijo paled. "What? I've heard nothing about the fortress…"

"I have my sources. The night after your Sheikah set out, someone infiltrated the Fortress and made off with the Ocarina of Time."

Keijo grew paler, setting his cutlery down.

"I've tolerated your inept rule thus far -"

"Inept?" Keijo seized the opportunity to fire back, indignance written all over his face. "I helped this kingdom recover from the plague and started reversing the damage that our former monarchs did to the nobility-"

"-while inciting your royal guard to rebellion and enjoying the disapproval, if not outright hatred, of the commoners due to the abusive tendencies of your little 'Squad'."

Keijo snorted. "Lions do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep, my dear. Our late King and Queen gave the peasants...ideas, and I'm simply restoring the natural order of things."

It took a monumental effort for Veran to refrain from rolling her eyes, although her body language made it clear what she thought of that oft-repeated line of the Regent's.

"Class concerns aside, we agreed that our greater ambitions would adhere to _my_ plans, _my_ schedule. And I definitely do not remember part of my plan being to allow a lone actor to waltz in and steal the only divine artifact we have- _had_ in our possession!"

Keijo dropped his gaze, gears turning in his head as Veran's eyes attempted to reveal said gears through the sheer force of her stare.

"So? Anything to say for yourself?"

An awkward pause stretched longer and longer until Keijo finally spoke. "I've another reason for recalling the Sheikah. At the least, it should buy us more time, and we'll most likely be in a far better position for it."

Veran sneered at him, turning back to her food. "I sincerely hope so, _my dear._ "

The woman's curt dismissal only served to abash the Regent still further, but he was only able to take out his frustration on his steak.

/_\

-Zelda's Quarters-

On the way back to her quarters, Zelda requested that a maid bring supper for three to her parlor. There, she found the Treasury Secretary, Alexander Bergstadt, whom she'd regularly met for dinner and strategy meetings. He was the first person she'd swayed to her side, an easy task given their mutual dislike of the Regent's rule.

"Good evening, Princess," Alexander said, simultaneously bowing and pulling out Zelda's chair, waiting for her to sit before taking his own. "Thoughts on the meeting earlier? I definitely could have argued Iga down that half a percent…"

"Not when you say that her brain is Roc food, Alexander."

He flushed. "Okay, so it got a little heated, but in my defense, it should be obvious to anyone studied in economics, like she is, that we're on the far side of the Wara curve, and - "

Zelda held up a hand. "I'll stop you there, partially because this is supposed to be dinner, not an economics lesson, and partially because your fights don't usually get that far in front of the Regent."

Alexander stopped mid-gesture, a contemplative look on his face. "You know, that is kind of strange, especially after the State of the Kingdom meeting…"

The shared memory made both of them wince, although Zelda's twitch was belied by a slight smirk.

After a pause, Zelda continued. "In any case, it's rather unusual for him to be so quiet during Council meetings, and he seemed fairly nervous afterwards. I'll need to keep an eye on him-"

A loud rap at the door interrupted the conversation.

Zelda and Alexander rose at the same time, but she waved him down. "You're a guest; sit down. I'll answer it." So saying, she opened the door to reveal a stern-faced woman who was an inch or two taller than the already-tall Zelda. The five stars on her shoulder marked her as a Hylian General of the Army, while the insignia above her heart of a sword and wand crossed in front of a breastplate denoted her position as the Military Minister.

Zelda smiled. "Thank you for joining us, Lady Keikaina. Please, come in."

The woman bowed, saying "Frederica is fine, your Highness."

"Then Zelda is fine as well." They walked over to the table, where Alexander leapt up to pull out Frederica's seat, saluting as he did so.

Frederica smirked, saying "At ease, soldier, you stopped serving under me years ago."

"Old habits die hard, ma'am," said Alexander as he retook his seat.

The next few minutes were consumed by small talk as they waited for the servants to deliver food, after which the three dug in with gusto.

Once they'd started nursing their after-dinner drinks, Zelda turned to Frederica. "Now that we're all full, let's get to business." Alexander sat up straighter, setting down his goblet of wine. "What did Alexander tell you about why I invited you here tonight?"

Frederica finished a sip from her goblet (which held ale) before responding. "Well, Your High-Zelda, I don't think he told me anything about this meeting having a purpose. He was too busy choosing his words as if I were still liable to assign him a hundred pushups or latrine duty."

The two women smirked at Alexander, who sheepishly muttered "Like I said, old habits. And it was usually both."

The general turned back to Zelda. "So, while I have ideas, I've not enough evidence to reach a conclusion yet."

"Then I'll explain. You are, no doubt, aware of the...shift in direction that policy has taken since Lord Keijo ascended to the Regency?"

Frederica snickered. "Sure, if by 'shift in direction' you mean 'about-face'."

"That's another way to put it, yes," Zelda said with a smile. "So I imagine it would not be a surprise to you that I intend to turn the country around once again."

"I don't doubt that, but won't it be difficult for you to accomplish anything given the fact that Keijo has alliances with most of the Advisory Council?"

"Hence this meeting. I'm hoping to persuade you to my point of view, or at least to support my policies during negotiations with the Council."

Frederica sat back, goblet in hand. "You're welcome to try, princess, but I will say that the Lord Regent's rule has definitely been kind to the Hylian military."

"In what ways, if I may ask?"

"Well, his little squad does a lot of research and development of new arms and techniques that make their way into the military. Those whatsits...I don't remember the name, but….those long-range crossbows fitted with Hawkeyes -"

"Sogeki, ma'am," Alexander interjected.

"Yeah, the Sogeki crossbows. Once we got our hands on those, they pretty much doubled our sharpshooters' effective range, and it's not really something that the military would research normally."

Alexander interrupted again. "Well, the military isn't usually in the business of spying on its own people. All the Sogekis I've seen are pointed at private houses, through the windows of those who are more vocal in their mistrust of the Regent."

Frederica shrugged. "Not my problem, the whys and wherefores. I leave that to the intellectuals like you, Alexander. Moralizing about who I'm pointing my sword at wouldn't make me a good soldier. Honestly, if the Suppression hadn't ended so quickly, I'd put even odds on you being court-martialed by now."

Zelda cut off Alexander's response with a gesture. "That's not what I'm talking about, but let's use the Suppression as a starting point. Ignoring the moral problems of the Suppression-" (Frederica muttered "Din knows I'm no bleeding heart") "-the effects of stirring up the resentments between ourselves, the Gorons, and the Zora do negatively impact us all."

"What do you mean?"

"The Gorons, living around Death Mountain, naturally have a near-monopoly on the sale of bombs. How much have prices increased since the Suppression?"

Frederica thought for a moment before replying. "I see your point. Especially since the Sheikah budget eats into ours."

"Alexander can further inform you of the economic costs of the Regents' policies, but let's not get bogged down in details at the moment. As well as the economic costs, the Regents' policies incur costs in military effectiveness as well."

"Really? How do you figure that?"

"Well, take Alexander, for example. Being a ward of the Igas, he was naturally pushed towards the military and not the Sheikah. Other similarly intelligent and talented soldiers-" (Alexander started preening) "-who once would have entered the Army or Royal Guard are instead funneled into the Sheikah. How well would you have fared without Alexander and Erina, or putting it another way, how many soldiers like Alexander are Shiekah now? Never mind all the Royal Guardsmen who aren't here because of the Regent - have you spoken to the Hawk lately?"

Frederica raised a hand. "Okay, I get it. No need to lay it on that thick." Zelda blushed and looked aside sheepishly. "So what do you plan to do, then? I assume you'd like to gain my support to have a majority in the Military Triad."

"That's tonight's goal, yes," said Zelda.

"Points for honesty."

"It is, after all, the best policy."

The discussion continued in a similar vein for the better part of an hour. Frederica seemed content to let Zelda lay out her reasoning, only speaking to clarify statements or poke fun at Alexander. This fit with what Zelda knew of the general - she was hardly the type to reach conclusions quickly, rather taking the time to process information. When she reached a conclusion, she was unshakable.

Zelda hoped that the conclusion reached after this would place the general in her camp.

Finally, Frederica drained her forgotten ale and stood, bowing to the princess.

"Thank you for having me. You've given me much to think about. Good night, Your Highness, Alexander." She left the room as Alexander saluted.

Once the door closed, Alexander dropped his salute, turning to the princess. "I think that went well. Next time, though, don't present so much so quickly. They're rhetorical arguments, not stampeding horses. It's bad form in a debate, worse when you're actually trying to convince someone."

"You're one to talk," she said good-naturedly, but the look in her eyes told Alexander that she had accepted his criticism.

"Planning anything for tomorrow, princess?"

"Have you already forgotten that the Oracle is arriving?"

"Uh...no, of course not. Well, I'll continue talking to Advisory Council members. We'll get our majority yet."

Zelda smiled as he left, mind already speeding ahead to her next moves. Before long, however, she'd wrenched her racing thoughts to a standstill, breathing slowly and deeply and entering a state of intense focus.

She had one more thing to do today.

/_\

-Hyrule Castle Dungeon-

As imprisonments went, Ernest mused, this one wasn't too bad. His cell wasn't huge but it wasn't cramped, either. He had no cellmates besides the scurrying rats, and the occupants of the neighboring cells were fairly quiet. The guards were polite, they were fed twice daily, and as far as he could tell, prisoners weren't pulled from their cells for regular beatings. At least not at the moment.

Of course, given his lack of interaction with the Sheikah guarding him, he was alone with his thoughts most of the time, and that was a decidedly negative experience.

Weighing heaviest on his mind was the fates of his teammates. Raynie had confirmed that Link was dead - sacrificed himself protecting Raynie, in fact. Leave it to a mute teenager to go out more nobly than half the people he knew. Kid was well on his way to being a great soldier, but death takes the finest warriors as easily as it does anyone else. He was used to it by now, and so he let the grief flow through him as it always did. He didn't beat himself up thinking of ways he could have saved Link, things he could have, should have, would have done differently, didn't rage at the divines for taking yet another of his friends from him.

He just let Link go.

And focused on his other teammate.

The thing about death, in Ernest's experience, was that it tended to hit in waves. When someone dies, odds are that the shinigami are studying your group, eyeing their next target. Letting grief for the first weigh you down impedes your ability to help yourself or others avoid joining them. And both he and Raynie looked like they were in pretty bad positions.

As his thoughts shifted to Raynie, he sighed internally. For whatever reason, thinking about her opened a knot in his stomach. Well, that wasn't quite accurate. He knew the reason, he just didn't want to think about it too hard. Fear, as usual.

Well, he'd be a hypocrite if he didn't heed his own sayings. 'Fear kills the mind.' And Din knew he had time to process...

Breathe. In, out, let the stomach settle, let the calm set in. And begin.

Start with Raynie: how does she interact with him, how does - _did_ \- she interact with Link, and how were those different?

Simple. She's attracted to him but not to Link, so she flirts - _flirted_ \- with the latter and and gets more serious around him while dropping hints _._

And how does he respond to that?

By acting oblivious to her feelings and treating her like anyone else.

Why? Leaving aside whether he reciprocates, not giving an answer one way or the other isn't really fair to her. Also, everyone who sees her dropping hints probably thinks his brain is Roc food.

Why, indeed.

Let the fear flow through…

Yep. Terrified.

She'd expressed interest in him fairly early in their working relationship, but he'd had no idea how to respond, so he reacted the way he always did when accosted by admirers: he ignored all of her subtle advances while he sorted out his own feelings. Normally, that would be it, but as he and Raynie fought, trained, and camped together, he felt something new developing. She didn't see him as the untouchable Vermillion Swordsman, and he saw her as closer to an equal - maybe something more.

And that scared him.

Link joining their little squadron didn't help matters; taking the boy under their wings had facilitated their growing closer as well, and so after a while he'd come to the conclusion that he did return her feelings.

Which opened up a new bottle of stinkbugs.

Because now he didn't actually _want_ to rebuff her, but accepting her advances held a terrifying prospect. It was simply easier to leave their dynamic as it was, despite his acute awareness that Link thinks - _thought_ \- him an idiot for it.

So with that emotional knot untangled, what about the current situation?

He was locked in Hyrule Castle, she in the Gerudo Fortress. If they'd wanted her dead, they wouldn't have been retrieved alive after their battle on the bridge. Granted, now that he was here, they might decide that she'd outlived her usefulness and just kill her.

Well if they did, their blood would paint him a new jacket _-_ he blinked, startled at the sheer anger that awakened within him at the thought that Raynie might die at Sheikah hands. Was that because Link had died already, a result of his newly accepted feelings for her, or some combination?

Focus.

Either way, he needed to get out of _here_ first, and while this meditation session hadn't really helped that, his mind _was_ clearer. He'd processed Link's death, and he knew what he'd say to Raynie if - _when_ \- they next met.

As for the mission, their target had to take care of herself until he could get his immediate situation sorted out.

/_\

Dinner, delivered by a silent guard, consisted of thin, watery gruel and stale bread, which he quickly polished off.

And a humanoid mass of shifting shadows appeared exactly thirty minutes after the guard left.

Ernest shot to his feet, adrenaline racing through his body as he reached for a sword that wasn't there. Not that a sword would likely do much good against...whatever this was.

The Shadow (as good a name as any) extended two tendrils from its sides - _arms?_ \- and swiped at the air. A nonverbal threat? It was moving too slowly to be at all intimidating, though. Something in its demeanor seemed off…

Unbidden, he flashed back to an all-too-common occurrence between his subordinates. By virtue of being the closest colleague that Raynie spent most of her time with, Link would often run afoul of her mercurial temper. Whenever that happened, he would raise his hands and pat the air softly, a gesture which they interpreted as "calm down!"

A gesture that looked very similar to what the Shadow was doing right now.

He relaxed his tensed muscles, opening up his posture. Did the Shadow just...nod its "head"?

It made its way around to each cell, conversing softly with the prisoners. He couldn't hear what was being said, but the reactions of his fellow prisoners told him that the Shadow was a regular visitor. Sometimes, the Shadow's tendrils - _arms_ \- extended, delivering small items through the bars. Bits of food, papers, and the like. Things that could be hidden, destroyed, or otherwise leave no evidence that they were ever there.

This Shadow was looking ever more virtuous by the second. Of course, that could simply be a ruse. Gain a prisoner's trust and you can get far more information than you could via torture, with the added benefit of not accidentally killing the prisoner.

So Ernest kept his posture open while marshalling his thoughts to ensure that he didn't let anything too important slip - he knew a _lot_ about the Bannerless, after all.

Finally, the Shadow moved up to his cell, and he faced it through the bars.

A soft voice. "Ernest Siegerkind?" It was intelligible, but he couldn't discern anything about who might be under the Shadow - neither age nor gender. Which was probably the intent.

He responded, "You have me at a disadvantage."

The Shadow nodded. "Call me Kage, for the moment. I hope to introduce myself properly soon."

"So do you come here often, Kage?" The expected chuckle was expressed as a huff. Still no distinguishing vocal features. Maybe vocabulary, word choice? But that's not really exact, and it's not like he knew all the dialects of Hyrule -

"Every few days, yes. I bring tidings from the outside world and fulfill those requests that are within my power."

Extremely formal, kind of antiquated word choice? Odd.

"Why? Isn't this the cell block for prisoners of special importance to the Regent? And aren't you a Sheikah?"

That huff again, definitely laughter. "Not all in this castle agree with Lord Keijo. Suffice it to say that the Regent's support base does not reach as high as he would like."

'Not as high?' Who would rank higher than the _Regent_ -

His eyebrows shot into his hair as his thoughts reached their logical conclusion. _The princess?!_

Kage huff-laughed again.

Or Kage just _wanted_ him to think that the Princess had taken an interest.

Maybe he could test that. "In that case, Kage, can you bring me the gift that a hawk brought your patron?"

Kage's head tilted. "The gift that a hawk…"

"Brought your patron. Ask them what it means."

The shadows around Kage's head returned to their normal position. "Ah. Understood." That reaction struck him as slightly off, but before he could figure out why exactly that was, Kage bowed and left him with an "Until next time, then." before turning to the exit and disappearing around a corner.

As imprisonments went, Ernest mused, this one was shaping up to be _interesting._

/_\

-Hyrule Field (Faron), 6 days later-

Link let out a groan of equal parts boredom and fatigue.

The Faron Province's portion of Hyrule Field was a crossroads of sorts. Traffic from Lake Hylia to Kakariko Village and vice-versa occupied the east-west roads - this was the path Link followed. A few days on foot had led Link to the north-south road, which connected Ordon Province with Hyrule Castle Town. Both roads were well-traveled, but the crowd had thinned once the fork towards Castle Town had been passed. Word was that the reduced Sheikah presence had emboldened bandits, and the direct path to Kakariko was especially dangerous now. Upon hearing this news, most who wanted to go to Kakariko decided to take a detour through Castle Town and Upper Eldin Province rather than risk bandits.

Furthermore, since the Sheikah had also been in the business of thinning out the numbers of monsters in the field, few dared to step off the beaten path for fear of provoking the newly burgeoning monster populations. The only exceptions were Postmen, who could be easily spotted taking shortcuts that sent them dashing past the arrows of Bulblins and the diving attacks of Guays.

Link had flagged one down, given him a short verbal message courtesy of Val, and sent him on his way. There was no guarantee that Heinrich would hear it in time to help, though, especially with the Bannerless spread as thin as they were. For the foreseeable future, Link was on his own.

" _We've reached the passage to Lower Eldin, and wooooow, this place is huge!"_

Of course, "on his own" had a slightly different meaning than it used to.

" _I thought you had a map of Hyrule. Shouldn't you know how big this kingdom is?"_

" _Knowing it and seeing it for yourself are two different things. Anyway, you're almost to Kakariko! Well, three-quarters of the way there? Which is more than half, so I think I'm justified in saying 'most of the way', if not 'almost'."_

Val's rambling had become white noise at this point, but Link welcomed the company, odd as it was.

" _Uh, let's skip that for now. For now, why don't we try to piece together what we know so we can go into Kakariko prepared?"_ prompted Link. He'd found that one of the easier ways to guide Val away from one of her tangents was to go over information with her.

" _Sorry, sorry! Okay, so here's what we've got. The Lord Regent wants three items, one of which we have: the Ocarina of Time. The other two are in unknown locations, but we're chasing down a lead on the compass. Hopefully the girl's necklace is the real thing and not a family heirloom or something."_

" _On the subject of the Ocarina-"_ Link pulled it out, feeling safe in doing so due to the relative lack of people in the area - _"what exactly does it do? The legends didn't really go into specifics."_

" _I'm afraid I don't know much either,"_ fretted Val. _"All I've heard is that playing certain songs on it can have magical effects. There's a problem, though."_

" _Problem?"_

" _There's no record of it being used more recently than 600 years ago. People have played it, even playing the songs that they knew to be magical, but it just hasn't worked. I have no clue why."_

" _...that's really weird. Well, I know a bunch of songs; might as well give it a try."_

A few practice puffs of air helped Link determine the notes the ocarina could reach, and after a few minutes, he had puzzled out the melodies of a few songs he knew. "The Cucco Song" was first. Aside from the rueful smile that spread across Link's face at the memories it brought back, nothing happened.

Next was the Hylian national anthem, then a series of ballads, and finally a couple of the love songs he had picked up from the orphanage's caretakers and his fellow Bannerless. Nothing.

Frustrated, he rifled through his mental repertoire, discarding the songs he only half-remembered and trying to find something he could piece together. Finally, he picked a waltz that he'd played for the infrequently-held Bannerless celebrations. It was Zora in origin, if he remembered correctly, with a soothing melody.

The first phrase of the song ended on a held note before repeating once and then segueing smoothly into the end of the first verse, and as Link shifted his finger to hit the last note…

Nothing happ-

 _-his body was underwater-_

" _Too bad, that last one sounded good…"_

 _-a voice, garbled as if speaking from above the waterline-_

Val continued to prattle on, listing off possibilities for figuring out how to use the Ocarina.

 _-_ _ **"The clear water's surface reflects growth."**_ _-_

-and he was back, holding the Ocarina and walking forward as if nothing had happened.

" _Uh, Val?"_

" _Hmm? Yes, Link?"_

Before he could say anything, however, they rounded a bend and stumbled upon a grisly scene.

/_\

-Hyrule Field (Faron), ?-

Link let out a groan of equal parts boredom and fatigue.

The desert had been huge, but Hyrule Field could definitely give it a run for its money. This part - Faron, was it called? - took a couple days to cross on foot, and then there was a whole 'nother section before Kakariko Village. That postwoman had said that it would be a relatively straight path with signs everywhere, so wrong turns would be difficult to make. Definitely a good thing, Link mused - wouldn't want to get lost, after all. As it was, Link's brown boots were definitely wearing out at the pace that was generally associated with a stressful day of Wolfos chasing or herding an especially large cucco flock.

At that thought, Link glanced down at the offending footwear, assessed the damage, and groaned again.

"Didn't you hear me, fool? I _said,_ on your knees!"

Link's eyes snapped up, locking on to the speaker: a tall, muscular woman with a club resting on her shoulder.

...how many times was this now? Link really needed to pay more attention.

While absorbed in thought, Link had apparently wandered into a bandit raid. A carriage was stopped a few yards away, nervous horses watching several people with weapons searching it for goods and money. The woman with the club had apparently been overseeing the carriage's occupants: a tall woman in ornate, priestlike robes, a Zora, and three children no older than 12. They were lined up on the ground next to the wall - wait, wall?

Without Link noticing, the grassy Hyrule Field had given way to the thin, rocky pass separating Faron province from Eldin province.

...lost, _again_. Time to focus, and sort out the geography later.

Link glanced around; there was no one behind the club-wielding bandit and the three at the carriage weren't paying attention.

Alright. Link could do this - situations like these were part and parcel for a hero, after all.

Link said, "Sorry, just a moment. Let me set this little guy down softly…"

She slowly lowered herself into a semi-kneeling position, placing the cucco that she had been carrying down to the side. It would definitely be out of the way, but better to take the fight to them just to be sure.

Her slow crouch didn't satisfy the club-wielder, who was reaching the limits of her patience. "Knees. Ground. _Now._ "

While sinking down, Link completed her pre-fight ritual. Scan the skyline - the walls of the passage blocked most of her field of view. Touch her compass - even though it didn't point north, she felt it gave her luck anyway.

And her crouch became a forward roll in which the crossbows strapped to her boots leapt into her hands.

The bandit began to let out a sharp "Hey!" but only got halfway through it before the bolt from Link's left-hand crossbow pierced her throat.

The children cowered in fear, seeing the burly woman collapse for seemingly no reason. Link's heart went out to them, but she had other priorities right now -

As the club bandit fell, her gurgling shout drew the attention of one of the looters, a bald man who turned to see Link vault over the still-falling body and fire her right-hand crossbow. His reflexes were fast enough to dodge it, but the woman behind him was still in the line of fire, and she went down with a bolt in her back, long hair fluttering down as a shroud.

Link brought her just-fired crossbow back, in the process bringing it close enough to her other crossbow that on passing each other, they made contact with a _click_.

The bald bandit took in the scene at a glance, coming to the conclusion that since she'd fired two bolts, she couldn't fire again until she'd reloaded. Thus he took the obvious best course of action and charged, drawing his sword on the way -

Link finished the maneuver, bringing her left-hand crossbow up to fire once more, lodging a bolt in the bald man's eye.

"How…?"

The man collapsed, and Link leapt over him in turn, aiming at the last bandit. Her right-hand crossbow fired, landing her next bolt in the final bandit's -

Shield.

Link slowed to a stop as her opponent drew a sword. She'd lost the element of surprise and this one had probably seen what her crossbows could do. To the onlookers, she was definitely at a disadvantage.

If they thought _this_ was a disadvantage, watching her fight a Wolfos would probably give them a heart attack.

As they looked at each other, Link brought her arms down alongside her legs, doing a short hop in place that brought her knees to her chest. The bandit started at the movement, then tilted his head in confusion at her strange antics - a Wolfos would have charged already! - which allowed her to complete the maneuver by pulling the crossbows up past the harnesses on her boots. Levers on the back of the crossbows met handles on her boots and in the process cocked her weapons -

And Link fired her left bolt at the bandit's face. His shocked eyes disappeared behind the shield just in time, but when he brought it down, she was charging straight at him -

He swiped at her horizontally, but Link simply dropped into a low profile and swept his legs with a powerful kick. The ground knocked the air from his lungs, but the fear that swept over him when he registered the crossbow pointing at his young face caused him to refill them very quickly.

At the stricken look on the fallen man's - no, more accurately boy's - face, Link ground her teeth.

 _Definitely_ not a Wolfos.

In a low, dangerous voice, she said, "If you hurt or rob anyone else...I beat you once. I can do it again."

The boy nodded, a sudden hope entering his expression.

"And if I have to take you down again, I won't be nearly this merciful. Understood?"

More frantic nods. She pointed the crossbows towards the sky, and motioned with her head. "Go."

He didn't need to hear that twice.

As the children pulled the human and Zora towards her with smiles on their faces, Link tried to reflect their bright smiles with one of her own.

Being a hero was great precisely because of moments like these...

Her eyes drifted unbidden to the three bodies strewn across the path.

...but killing people stung a lot more than killing Wolfos.


End file.
